We all live on Main Street. That is, our own lives are our first encounter--if we don't start there, we are of no help to others. If you ever fly, you know the flight attendant begins each trip by telling us that if oxygen masks drop down, put ours on first before we help others. Put another way, if we are not tending to our own mind, soul and body, we are feeding our weakness rather than our strength.
The last few blogs have been about my next-door neighbor, the Bible. I have been telling you that this year I am visiting Him every day at YouVersion. Listening to His stories as real people intersect with God's power is the greatest hope I know for living in this crazy world. It is the only way I can look at life and think it makes any sense at all.
My friend is going through some crushing financial circumstances. Over the years, she has held on for dear life, her underlying prayer to God asking--pleading--that He guide her and show up with His best for her life. She has sold nearly every piece of jewelry and has learned to eat for pennies a day, believing that He is right there, coaching her every step as she works hard in her career and visits Him daily.
Yesterday she considered selling her last necklace. She has a chair in her bedroom that acts more as a catch-all than a chair (don't we all have one of those!) and she said that it occurred to her, out of the blue, to check the crevasses of the chair. She found the sleeve that the necklace had come in buried under the cushion. Now really, what are the odds of that?
Isn't that the intersection of God and her circumstances? Of God and her Main? Couldn't He be saying, "I am here. I know what you are considering and I will lead you to the next step." It is the greatest intimacy of our souls to have God speak through His never-ending creativity and our hearts hear and know it is God.
I hope today finds you pausing at your own intersection(s) of God and Main.
