Lunch with Jesus

It was a typical Friday morning. The alarm went off, I laid there for awhile,got up and dragged myself down the stairs to get into the shower. I usually pray every morning while I’m in the shower. This particular morning my prayer was simply this, “Jesus open my ears to hear your voice in the little things, open my eyes to see how to be your hands and feet.” Honestly, after I said that prayer I didn’t think about it again.

Lunch time quickly rolled around and Ash J and I were ready to eat. Usually we can’t decide where to go but this time we just hopped in the car and drove to Eat ‘n Park for a warm shredded pot roast sandwich. The hostess said her normal thing, “just 2 of you? Alright, follow me this way.” We began to follow her and she took us ALL THE WAY TO THE BACK of the restaurant where we hate to sit. We looked at each other and sat down. Instantly an overwhelming smell of body odor consumed us. I looked to my left and two men were sitting there eating their lunch. To be honest, I was a little bit disgusted and wondering why out of the whole restaurant we had to sit there. Then I heard a still small voice say, “I have you here for a reason!” I then knew that Jesus wanted to use me for something. I immediately thought He was going to use me for something with the two men sitting close by—and my flesh said, “Oh Lord… why them?” It’s funny how our flesh reacts and assumes sometimes. We ordered our food and began the waiting process.

As we were waiting, an elderly man that looked to be in his late 70’s or early 80’s sat down in a booth in front and to the left of our table. I instantly noticed him. I watched as he sat down and he began to cry. He was by himself. He and his trusty cane. It was obvious that something was wrong and in my spirit I felt God tell me, “His wife passed away and they were very close.” From that point on my heart was gripped for this sweet man. My heart was moved to compassion. I didn’t know this man at all; I had never seen him before. My heart was so gripped that I felt my eyes swelling up with tears. If you know me, you know that I’m not one who cries easily; and if I do, I don’t do it publicly. My heart continued to break as I couldn’t keep my eyes off of this heart broken man.

Jesus kept nudging my heart with this phrase, “What you do to the least of these; you have also done to me.” Each time this was impressed into my heart, the more I was moved to compassion. Our food arrived and a few seconds after it did I left the table. I went up to the waitress and I said, “Excuse me, I want to buy that mans meal.” And she said, “Mr. Moore? The man sitting over there?” and I said, “Yes! Can you bring me his bill? And I’d like to write him a note.” At this point my tears could no longer be controlled. I started to cry and so did the waitress. She said, “He’s such a sweet man!” I quickly walked back to my seat and at this point I started bawling and my hands began to tremble. There was no holding it back. I tried to continue eating but it was hard.

The waitress came to my table to bring me his bill and a piece of paper to write the note. She proceeded to tell me, “His wife just died 1 and ½ months ago. They were extremely close, they were regulars here!” That was it for me. The tears continued to come. I began to write a note and once again my heart was utterly overwhelmed as if I felt the pain he was going through. On the note I simply wrote something like this, “Jesus loves you! You aren’t alone. He will never leave you. Be blessed and remember- you are loved! <3 ” I continued to watch this sweet man eat his breakfast lunch alone. He used to always be there with his wife… but now he sat there…alone. But, only alone in the world’s eyes. He wasn’t alone. Jesus was right there. Jesus was sitting across the table from him. Jesus was there crying with him. We can’t physically see Jesus but you know what? That’s why He put us here on this earth! We ARE His hands, His feet. People can’t physically see Him so He uses us to show the love and compassion he feels for “the least of these.” Yes, Jesus no longer walks among us physically, but He has given us His mandate and all the power we need to carry out His kingdom here on this earth. In other words, it’s going to happen THROUGH YOU!

As I left that restaurant, I was quickly reminded of the prayer I had prayed in the shower this morning; “Jesus open my ears to hear your voice in the little things, open my eyes to see how to be your hands and feet.” How awesome is Jesus? He heard my prayer this morning and he heard the cry of the sweet man Mr. Moore this morning and you know what? He chose to connect my prayer to be used to Mr. Moore's cry in order to show Mr. Moore that he’s not alone, Jesus is with him and he is loved.

I’m blown away. I share this story with you not at all to get credit. That is not my motive. My motive in sharing this story with you is to show you that it’s simpler to be the hands and feet of Jesus than you think! All it takes is an open spirit, open eyes, attentive ears, and a willingness to serve the least of these. I challenge you to pray a similar prayer that I prayed. Jesus is waiting for you to ask him.

Jesus had lunch with Mr. Moore today. He may not have seen him, but Jesus was there.

Bold as a lion.

There comes a time in all of our lives when we must choose between faith and anxiety. Most of the time our flesh will resort to anxiety. That's what is natural to us. In the end it keeps us trapped mentally, physically, and most tragic of all- spiritually. Proverbs 28:1 says, "The righteous are bold as a lion." You may be thinking, "I don't feel so bold right now!" The reason we often feel this way is because fear and anxiety are natural instincts to us.

Courage doesn't eliminate anxiety, it rises above it!

David said, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart." When your cause is right and you're committed to God, He gives you the courage needed to act. But we must first learn to face the thing we fear. This can mean standing up for what you believe, making a phone call you've been putting off, expressing your opinion, acknowledging a character flaw and asking God to help you change. What we have to remember is, DOING always comes before the FEELING of increased confidence. Each time we confront our anxieties we take a step forward. But when we allow anxiety to control us, we retreat into our "safe zone" and start seeing ourselves as people who can't handle life. Here's some great advice for living: analyze the situation fearlessly, figure out the worst that can happen. Once you've accepted that, you experience a release of energy and you can begin doing something about it, even if all you can do is- leave it in the capable hands of a powerful God! Fear can't immobilize you and steal your joy when you know you can handle whatever happens!

Lions don't cower down when faced with opposition- neither should you! Find out what you need to do and do it FEARLESSLY.

Fearlessness is not the absence of fear- it's the mastery of it.

What are you afraid of? What do you know you should do but have let fear & anxiety hold you back?

MASTER IT! Be bold as a lion.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.