This is day two of my search for grace in the small aspects of my life. Being a pastor, at times my responsibilities include visiting individuals in the hospital. Recently, due to the volume of visits I was making, I asked a gentlemen named Joe to help me with the hospital visitations. Joe had been attending our church for several months before I sat down with him to discuss my idea of plugging him in. After sitting down with him, I learned that he had both experience as a staff pastor and a desire to serve in the way of encouragement and hospital visitations. I was ecstatic at the proposition of having the help. I was also thrilled that Joe was a gentle grey haired man. I am not saying that all "older" people are comforting and kind, simply that having only a young buck pastor old enough to be your son, giving you encouraging words can leave much to be desired. A week after Joe accepted the idea of accompanying me to hospital visits, I received a call that the father of one of our volunteer leaders had experienced a heart attack and was laying in a hospital bed about an hour away. I called Joe and we headed out on our journey. Extremely rainy weather coupled with an interstate car accident slowed the trip to a crawl. Joe began to tell me his story of life, love, ministry, and hope. The beauty of his story blew me away. Could it be that God was using this trip to minister to me far beyond what we could do for the man in the hospital. When we pulled into the hospital, I dropped Joe off to gather the info on what ICU room we were headed. After parking the car and running awkwardly through the rain to the doors, I again thanked God I had Joe with me. We then headed into the room to pray with the man. After fumbling through a few words of encouragement and semi-humorous stories, something told me to step back and let Joe minister to this man. Then it happened. The connection that God had planned began to unfold in front of me. The two old men sharing and talking about God's grace and sovereignty was overwhelming. At one point, Joe grabbed the man's hand and said, "I know how you feel, but it seems God has more for you to do." God's grace shows itself in the individual ways He blesses people through different individuals. Joe was God's tool to minister to that man tonight. He was also God's tool to show me that God uses each one of His children differently. Thank God for Joe!
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I just read your two posts on God's grace. I believe that it's the small things in life that can make the lasting impact in our lives. Seeing how God blesses us through conversations we need or understanding His truth in small everyday details, like seeing your daughter eat solid food for the first time. Don't get me wrong, I know God moves in big ways and I'm so thankful for that but I personal like the unexpected ways He shows us Himself or teaches us a truth through a small detail that if we don't watch for, we can easily miss. Thanks for sharing Matt!
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