A piece of furniture needed to be
moved from our house, which Jerry and I easily transferred outside to an SUV using
a makeshift dolly. What we had not taken into consideration was it might not be
so easy to lift it into the vehicle. As we stood staring at the piece, him with
one hand in a splint from an orthopedic issue and me with back issues, we went over
our options.
The people that would normally
help us in a situation like this were a distance away. This was also at a time
of day that many of the neighbors were gone. Dark clouds gathered overhead
threatening rain. We kept staring at the furniture as if it would sprout legs
and climb into the vehicle on its own. I silently prayed the Lord would help us, and
then my attention was drawn to a couple of lawn care workers a few houses away.
Could we ask them to help us? No, that would be crazy, I told myself.
But the more I thought about it the less crazy it seemed.
“Jerry, do you think we could pay
those guys to help us?” I asked pointing to the workers.
He didn’t hesitate. He set off to
ask. I watched to see what happened. When he reached them, there was a verbal
exchange, and then the group began walking in our direction. I glanced again at
the leaden skies and thought, just in time.
When the two workers arrived, they
had the furniture in the vehicle in less than a minute. Jerry pulled bills from
his pocket to pay them.
They both put up their hand and
refused.
I persisted.
They still refused. In broken English, one of them said, “Everybody needs help sometimes. God bless you.”
Wait. God bless you was our line.
I was about to say it. My eyes filled with moisture.
“Yes, they do,” one of us said. I
don’t even remember who, now. “Thank you and God bless you, too.”
As they walked away, I heard the
Lord whisper in my spirit, “I have my people everywhere.”
And that is because God is
everywhere. I had a special sense of His presence and love for some time afterward
because of this experience.
We can find ourselves in
situations that in the natural seem impossible to resolve, but God is
surrounding us with his care, even when it comes to something as mundane as
moving a piece of furniture. God can move mountains at his command, but he can
also move home decor. We can forget that in the minutiae of life. The Lord
spoke these words to Joshua before he entered the promised land, “Do not be frightened,
and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”
(Joshua 1:9). Even if it’s just out to the driveway.
We don’t need help sometimes. We need help all the
time. And being on the receiving end of an unexpected act of kindness reminds
us of that.
The next time you find yourself
in a jam. Look around, God is there already at work.
And may God bless you, too.