Did You Know. . .
A young man had been to Wed. night Bible Study. The pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?"
After service, he
went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message. Several
different ones talked
about how God had led them in different ways.
It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he
just began to pray, "God...If you still
speak to people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to do what you ask."
As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy
a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He
didn't get a reply and started on toward home.
But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how
he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli. "Okay, God,
in case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem like too hard a test of
obedience. He could always use the milk.
He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home. As he passed
Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn down that street."
This is crazy he
thought and drove on past the intersection. Again, he felt that he should turn down
Seventh Street. At the
next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out
loud, "Okay, God, I will."
He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the
curb and looked around. He was in a semi-commercial area of town. It wasn't the best but
it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the
houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he sensed something,
"Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street."
The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either
gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car
seat. "Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are
going to be mad and I will look stupid."
Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk. Finally, he opened the door.
"Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door
and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to
be obedient. I guess that will count for something but if they don't answer right away, I
am out of here.
He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's
voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the door opened before the
young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and t-shirt. He looked
like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too
happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. "What is it?" The young
man thrust out the gallon of milk. "Here I brought this to you."
The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway, speaking loudly in Spanish. Then from
down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her
holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man
began speaking and half-crying, "We were just praying. We had some big bills this
month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying
and asking God to show me how to get some milk."
His wife in the
kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to send angel with some. Are you an Angel?"
The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put
in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming
down his face. He knew that God still answers prayers.
It doesn't take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go.