I was in Nashville for the weekend spending time alone with Jesus when I ran out of toothpaste the night before church. On Sunday morning, I get up early and head to the local pharmacy for some toothpaste. Leading up to the pharmacy I see a Publix, so I make a quick turn into the parking lot and head inside.
In the hustle of the morning, I get what I need and head back to my car. The sky was overcast, but the temperature was perfect. It would have been the perfect morning to sit outside and enjoy the beauty of the day as some were doing off in the distance.
I climb into my car and that’s when I hear the Lord say, “I want you to go pray for her.”
“For who, Lord?”
He directs my attention to a woman sitting alone at a picnic table.
“Her? Why?”
“Because she is homeless and I want you to pray for her.”
Not thrilled about the idea of praying for someone at 8:30 in the morning, without having first brushed my teeth, I drive past the woman the Lord directed me to.
She didn’t look homeless to me at all, but she did, however, look mad at the world. I decided I didn’t hear the Lord correctly and continued driving towards my hotel. As I got close to the stoplight, the Lord again said, “Go back and pray for her.”
“God, why! She isn’t homeless! And I want to get back to the hotel so I have enough time to get ready before church!”
He responded, “Jacquelyn, you told me last night you wanted to be the type of woman I could use at any time and any place. I can’t use you if you aren’t going to be obedient.”
At that, I turned my car around, parked near the tables, and headed for the empty picnic table next to her.
Upon sitting down, I offer a slight smile and said, “it’s a pretty morning.”
She briefly smiled and agreed. I asked her how she was and she responded, “You don’t want to know…”
“That bad of a day already?”
“It’s been that bad of a year.”
I knew that was the open window to ask her if I could pray for her. She agreed and I made my way to the chair next to her and that’s when it occurred to me that she really was homeless. The Lord spoke loving words to her heart through me and she began to cry. Walls around her heart fell and she opened up about her story.
Her name was Darlene.
After a few minutes, I asked her if I could buy things she needed in Publix. She agreed and picked out only a few items. However, the entire time she was walking through the store, the Holy Spirit kept repeating, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me (Matthew 25:40).”
In fact, after about 5 minutes of this verse on repeat, I replied to the Lord, “Well… Jesus… If I were doing this for You, I would get you new clothes, new shoes, some food, and a hotel room for the night so You can shower.”
He simply responded with, “Then do it for Me.”
I told Darlene my plans and she was thrilled. We listened to “Rescue” by Lauren Daigle on the way to get some clothes and she sobbed the entire time. It was hard for me not to sob, too.
Finally, back at the hotel, she was settled into her room, clean and fed and tired.
I, on the other hand, was up the entire night. I kept sensing the Lord had more for me. So, around 3 am, I asked Him what else I could do for Him. He told me to take Darlene home with me to help her get back on her feet.
“Lord, are you sure? I don’t have money except for the money I saved for Hawaii and I don’t know where I’d even start.”
“I’ll provide what you need,” He responded.
And oh did He provide!
I took Darlene home with me the next day clueless about what I was doing and how I would get the money needed to give her a place to stay. I had no idea the following month would bring us through the most emotional, breathtaking, challenging, and life-changing experience of our lives.
Darlene and I were meant to cross paths that day, and it brings me to tears every time I think about what would have happened if I said no… If I never turned around to go pray for her.
God doesn’t always ask us to serve Him in ways that are convenient to us, but it’s those moments of inconvenience where we experience the miracles of God in our everyday circumstances.
Ignited Freedom is about living our daily lives encountering Jesus. It’s not about waiting on a certain platform or stage to be used by God. Instead, Ignited Freedom was created with the truth in mind that God calls us as we are, where we are, to experience Him in new and powerful ways.
I met Darlene because I ran out of toothpaste. God used my daily routine to change my life and to change hers. How awesome is our God?!
May you be bolder today than you were yesterday and may you live your daily life in obedience to Him!
Be blessed, friends!