When God Shows Up In Unexpected Places

Sometimes God has a way of meeting us in the most unusual places. The good news is that he WILL meet you if you ask Him. I want to share a personal and somewhat humorous story of just how willing God is to let us know how involved he really is in every single aspect of our lives.

This story took place a number of years back when I was employed by a Pregnancy Resource Center. We called it the PRC for short. I had been offered the position as the Nurse Manager and after much prayer, I felt it was where the Lord was leading me in the way of a nursing position. The job was a joy and a blessing but it had its share of stress and on many days I felt quite overwhelmed at the many responsibilities that had fallen on my shoulders. The PRC was a faith-based non-profit organization so everything needed to run the center was dependent on the generosity of our donors. If it had not been for the giving hearts of individuals and churches who supported us each month, our doors would never have stayed open.

After much prayer and discussion by the PRC staff, the decision was made to undertake a project which would convert our center into a Pregnancy Medical Clinic (PMC for short). This meant that once the conversion to a medical clinic was complete, the center would be able to offer early trimester obstetrical ultrasounds for its clients. It was a lengthy and challenging undertaking, to say the least. More than once I asked God if he was sure he had picked the right person for the job of overseeing the medical aspect of this conversion. The answer was always the same and so I kept doing what I was called to do as I leaned heavily on Him for strength and guidance.

One day, in particular, I left the center exceptionally drained—mentally, physically, emotionally and yes, even spiritually. I was discouraged and overwhelmed at the demands and deadlines I was facing. Nothing had gone right that day and I felt like the opposition I was meeting to see our center through the medical conversion was more than I wanted to deal with. On my way home I decided to make a quick stop at my local grocery store. I was actually glad to have to make the stop because I needed time to clear my head before getting home. I did not want to carry the woes of the job home to my family so when I reached the parking lot of the store I sat in my parked car for a few minutes. As I sat quietly reflecting on all that had gone wrong this particular day, I knew there was only one answer and that was to give my worries to God once again. I offered up a simple prayer that sounded like this:

“Lord, I really believe that you called me to this position at the PMC. I know things are not going to go smoothly every single day in this monumental task. But Lord if you would please just show me a little sign of some kind so that I know you see my struggle. I just need a little encouragement to get over the hump. Anything Lord, just something to know that you are with me. Thank you, God.”

I proceeded into the store and quickly picked up the few items on my list. The last item on my list was cottage cheese. As I got to the dairy section there was a woman with her grocery cart parked right in front of the door I needed access to. I waited patiently but I could see she was oblivious to my presence. She was pulling out each brand of cottage cheese and slowly reading all of the ingredients on the carton! I was thinking to myself, “Oh for goodness sakes, its cottage cheese, what’s the difference! Just pick a carton. Any carton!” Yes I know, at that moment, the Fruit of the Spirit called ‘patience’ was quickly fading.

Finally, I cleared my throat to get her attention. With a smile, I said, “Excuse me, please. May I just reach around you to get what I need?” She looked up a bit startled and apologized for being in the way. I grabbed my cottage cheese but I was not getting away just yet.

The woman stopped me, handed me the carton she was holding and asked me if it had an ingredient with a name too long to understand. She explained that she could not read the small print. I only caught the first part of what she was asking so I replied, “MONO what? And why does it matter?” Well, that was certainly the wrong question for me to ask! This dear lady proceeded to tell me all the terrible ways in which this “mono” ingredient was bad for your body inside and out. She then looked at the carton I had picked and said, “Oh dear child, that’s the worst one of the bunch!”

Okay, so now we are BOTH standing there reading the labels and comparing findings on the cottage cheese cartons. Finally, we found one that would not bring us a quicker demise than was the Lord’s plan for us because of “mono” whatever. I thanked her and started to roll my cart away but again she was not letting me make my exit just yet.

Next, the dear woman proceeded to inform me about a certain tea that was loaded with health benefits. The only problem was she could not remember the name of this particular tea. She insisted I have the information so she asked me if she could email me the name of the tea. I thought to myself that she seemed harmless enough to give my email address to.

I pulled out one of my business cards and scribbled my personal email address on the back and handed it to her. She read what I wrote and then turned the card over. All of a sudden her eyes widened as she read the name of our center. With great excitement, she said, “Oh my! How wonderful! The pregnancy center! I know about this place and its work. Oh, dear girl you truly are doing God’s work you know! And oh, you are the Nurse Manager! How wonderful! What a blessing to be a part of God’s work! I love that organization and its ministry! I know someone else who is a part of this at your center! God bless you for all you do there!”

As she stood there praising our PMC and telling me who she was acquainted with at our center I stood there both in shock and excitement simultaneously. God had just answered my brief prayer from minutes earlier in the parking lot.

God showed up right there picking out cottage cheese with this dear sister in Christ!

We talked about the center for another few minutes. I then thanked her and told her how God had used her to encourage me on this day when I truly needed a spiritual lift. We hugged and went our separate ways with cottage cheese in our carts and smiles in our hearts!

So friend, the next time you ask God to meet you, don’t be surprised how He does it. He knows you intimately. He knows your every thought and word even before you do! He wants to be actively involved in all that concerns you and He will go to any length to prove this to you. Yes, God is liable to show up anywhere for his children. And I do mean anywhere…even in the dairy section of a grocery store!

PS: Has God showed up for you in an unexpected place at some time in your life? Please share about your encounter in the comments. I would love to hear about it!

 

 

Note: This blog post was written by Rosie Williams and first appeared on Nuggets from the Heart. This blog post, either in part or in its entirety, may not be copied, duplicated, edited or appear in any other publication without the written approval or permission from the author. For full copyright and disclosure information, click here. For questions regarding the use of this blog post, you may contact Rosie Williams by clicking here.