13 December. Day 13.
It has been so lovely journeying through the book of Luke and as we reach over half way, I look back and see in awe and wonder the beauty and glory of the King I serve. I see the glory and wonder of advent. I see the glory and majesty of His reign during His time on earth and in my life day to day. What a mighty God we serve.
I had today all planned out. Relaxing morning and afternoon at home. Pop in to wish a special little 7 year old happy birthday. Head to the pavilion shopping center for our daughter to join our church’s junior youth group at ten pin bowling. I would find a coffee shop while she bowled and I would read and write on Luke chapter 13. So the day panned out almost perfectly and I am so glad it didn’t go completely my way.
After dropping our daughter off, I paced up and down the center trying to find a quiet, smog-free place to sit and have a quick bite to eat whilst I read and penned some thoughts. My mission was becoming frustrating! Everywhere was busy, crowded and loud. Finally I decided to try one last place and I am so grateful I did! I took my seat, placed my order and then took out my Bible to read. When my waitress returned with my glass of water with lemon, she saw my Bible and said to me, “Psalm 91 is my favourite. It’s what keeps me going.” I replied that the Psalms are beautiful and that I love reading them too. She left and I turned to Psalm 91 to remind myself of the amazing Psalm written so many years ago. After reading it, I returned to Luke 13 and this caught my attention, “6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” {NIV}
During the course of the next hour the God-assigned waitress and I had a chance to briefly chat each time she came over to either deliver my meal, check all was ok, ask if I wanted the bill, deliver the bill, and then assist me to make payment. She began to share a bit of what she is going through and I had the privilege of encouraging her and sharing the word with her. It was such a profound moment and one I will never forget. She asked if I could please pray for her and so her name is now written in my prayer journal.
What if the center had been quiet and calm that evening and I had just sat at the first place I found? What if I hadn’t chosen that restaurant to sit at to have a quick bite to eat before collecting my daughter again? What if I hadn’t opened my Bible to read Luke? What if that man who took care of the vineyard had not spoken up and said to his master – let’s give the tree one more year to see if it would bear fruit?
We can never know the consequences to our decisions – or sometimes not quite our decisions, but how things worked out – and sometimes we will not see immediate fruit of that decision. Sometimes we will only know why things happened years later, sometimes we will see the result straight away. I am grateful that the Holy Spirit guided me to that particular restaurant for that particular moment on that particular day.
May we always be mindful that God is working all the time, even during this Advent season, and we are His hands and feet. May we be patient when things get frustrating, be sensitive to his guiding, and be obedient to his promptings.
I end with this quote:
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”―
hope of heart 