We all want God to bless us, but have you been a blessing to someone else??

[kayladbrooks]

God has a way of opening your eyes to things that you may have never seen before, or even to things that have been in your face all the time...you just never stopped to take notice. 

This past week was extremely stressful for me. I went in to work Monday and got word that my co-worker was missing in Costa Rica. He was separated from his group while swimming in the Pacific. To hear this on top of the stress of an already heavy workload, had me feeling down...but not yet out.

My husband is a caring man, but even the most perfect marriages have ups & downs. This week, we were slowly going down. I am still not sure if we both were bringing home stress from work or if we were so over worked that when we came home we just snapped at each other. Whatever it was, it was adding another straw to this camel's back.

Wednesday comes and at work we have all heard the news that our co-worker's body had washed ashore in Costa Rica not to far from where he was last seen alive. It was a somber day.

From Wednesday until Friday, I felt low. I continued to pray, but my prayers were not what they were before. I prayed that I could make it through the day and that was about it. 

I was going through a period of grief and I forgot to praise & thank God for all the good He had done, regardless of my situation. I didn't see it then but even in my time of distress I remained prayerful, but my prayers were extremely selfish.

Friday morning comes and I want to be in a better mood. I want to leave the stress of work at work, not argue with my husband, pay my last respects to my co-worker & get back to rejoicing in each day the Lord blesses me with. I knew this couldn't be done myself so I prayed that God would help me. I didn't know how it could be done, but before I pulled out of my garage, I left it in His hands.

I pull into the gas station to fill my tank. I'm just standing there watching the cars go by and trying to clear my mind.

Suddenly a man asks for my help. He says something about Naples FL. I assume he needs directions. As I listen further, he says he has a family emergency and needs to get to Naples ASAP. He has no money in his wallet and not enough gas to get to an ATM. He asks for my help while showing me a gold medallion & an old DVDplayer he will gladly give me in exchange for whatever I can spare to help him fill his tank.

My heart immediately drops. I tell him to put his stuff away and that I will help him. He looks shocked that I would freely give him help without wanting anything for it. I pull out my debit card and swipe it at the pump as I tell him to fill up his tank.

He looks at me in amazement & says "God Bless You". He proceeds to tell me that out of all the people he had asked for just a couple of dollars they told him No, even after he offered them everything he had with him.

I tell him it is no problem. I am just doing what God wants me to do. I head back to my truck and as I get in I see him watching me as he cries.

I head out of the gas station with tears pouring down my face, and I finally get it.

I just made this man's day by doing something he may remember for the rest of his life, and in return I am no longer stressed out. Helping this complete stranger made my "problems" seem so small.  

I left it in God's hands & He immediately showed me what it means to say, "He may not come when you want Him, but He's always right on time."

What I thought I needed from God wasn't really what He had in mind for me.

Sometimes we have to get out of our own way and let God work in our lives. You will be amazed at what the outcome will be!

 

 

 

 

 

[MommasCooCoo]

May. 24, 2009 at 4:56 PM

beautiful and inspiring!  God Bless!