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| Our little ones are in God’s hands |
Matthew 8:26 (NRSV), “And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.”
This weekend my husband and I decided to bite the bullet and buy a decent mattress and box-spring. The first time we purchased a mattress, we went the cheap route and bought the most economical mattress we could find. We soon found out that you get what you pay for. So we had to venture off again to find a suitable mattress because my husband and I haven’t been getting any real sleep. We were headed off to a mattress place I knew of, but we saw a Mattress Warehouse on the way and decided to go there. As soon as we entered the door, we were greeted by a friendly salesman. There were only two salesmen in the store and one other couple looking for a mattress. So we had his undivided attention. Shortly after we arrived, we jumped into various beds trying out a number of mattresses. We had little K with us and the salesman asked me if he could hold him so that my husband and I could try the mattresses without distraction. I said no. After trying out a few more mattresses, he asked again. Again, I said no. Somehow it came up that salesman was a minister. I told him that I was a minister of the Gospel too. When I looked at the salesman’s desk, I saw that he had an open, marked up Bible on it. He told me what church he attended and the name of his pastor. Because I expected to be swindled into buying the most expensive mattress, I told him that he really couldn’t hustle us now because his name was on the line.
We discovered that the second salesman was a minister too. As we shopped, our conversation turned to Jesus. Both salesmen talked to us about godly parenting. As they spoke, they hit on a lot of things that I had been secretly wrestling with concerning K. One of those things is trust. I have a very hard time trusting people around my son. It stems from my childhood, but the only people that I completely trust to watch him alone is my husband (of course), my mother, sister and close relatives, and I mean CLOSE! I allow people at church to hold him during service, but he never leaves my sight. Because I work a lot from home, K does not go to daycare or a babysitter, and even thinking about sending K to a daycare or babysitter makes me extremely anxious. Before my husband worked out his schedule, I had many sleepless nights thinking about where K would go. I work a lot from home, but we needed someone to keep him during the hours I go to the church. Fortunately, we worked it out so that K could stay home all day.
However, as demonstrated by this divine encounter, and I do believe that God orchestrated this encounter to speak to the issues of my heart, the Lord doesn’t want me to be burdened with anxiety and worry when it comes to K. The Lord wants me to be free in heart, mind and spirit. John 8:36 (NRSV) says, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” The Lord is trying to renew my mind and set me free. I have to get down in my spirit that before the foundations of the world, God knew K. I have to understand that God loved K first and God loves him best. I don’t have to be afraid when it comes to the safety and security of my son. I can rest. Yes, I will be a good steward over his life, but ultimately, I have to trust that K’s steps are ordered by the Lord. After speaking with us, the salesman asked a third time if he could hold K. I said yes and K was just fine.
Isn’t it ironic that my husband and I went into Mattress Warehouse so that we could get some rest, and the Lord set it up so that we could not only get physical rest, but mental and spiritual rest? That’s why I love the Lord!
Have you ever had a divine encounter?