Blessed to Experience a “God Moment” (October 6, 2023)

^“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” (1 Peter 3:15).

To those Christians who seek to be His witnesses and ambassadors to the world, the LORD provides special opportunities to serve the needs of other people, the greatest of which is a Savior. God occasionally puts faithful believers into the paths of lost souls who desperately need to hear the gospel of salvation and to experience the love of Christ. Today, I praise God that He blessed me with one of those “God moments” yesterday that allowed me to humbly serve the physical and spiritual hunger of an unfortunate individual.

While entering a Winston-Salem grocery store, I was approached by a poor, disabled lady who was somewhat slumped over with a back problem. She said that she did not want any money, but that she and her 2 children were hungry and had no food. She explained that her husband had abandoned her and the kids, leaving her for another woman. This hurting middle-aged woman said that a married couple that she’d befriended had provided temporary shelter for her and the children at the low-income apartment complex where they were renters.

This needy lady appeared to be sincere so I decided to use this opportunity not only help her but to tell her about Jesus whom she apparently did not have a personal relationship. So I went with her into the grocery store and pushed a cart for her as she modestly picked out items that she and her children needed and liked to eat. I then accompanied her through checkout and paid for her groceries. Outside the supermarket, she consented to allow me to briefly tell her about the best friend that anyone can have and the answer to all of our problems and needs, Jesus Christ!

As she attentively listened, I told her about the Bible with which she was not familiar. I then shared with her how that we are all sinners in need of a Savior and because of His love for humanity God the Father sent His Son to pay our sin debt on the cross so that by His grace through faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection we can all have forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in heaven when we leave this troubled world. She said she would like to accept Jesus as her Savior so I joyfully led her in a prayer for salvation and she became a child of God!

We both then rejoiced that she not only had a new friend who would never leave nor forsake her as her husband had done. She then asked to be excused momentarily and dashed into a nearby store to tell someone who’d witnessed to her before the good news of her salvation. When she returned, a dear Christian friend who accompanied me and prayerfully supported my efforts to witness for Christ took her to her friend’s apartment because she had no ride. We unloaded her groceries and left her with a number to call if she needed support in her new Christian walk.

I gave her a Gideon New Testament that I keep in the car for blessed God moments like this and encouraged her to read God’s Word daily and share Jesus with her children; pray for Christ to help her grow in her newfound faith; and find a Bible-teaching church to attend. Before we left her, this new creation in Christ told me that she planned to pay me back for her groceries when she got back on her feet. I told her to forget about it and that we both had been blessed beyond anything money could buy! I thank God for using me to serve someone to His honor and glory!