Not Missing God’s Invitations
How thankful we are to have finished a successful estate sale at Carl’s home! Three days of crowds who were welcomed and immediately heard beautiful sounds of K-Love’s Christian music playing in the background. Many people said: “I love your music!”
We sold that vintage stereo system with its Hi-Fi, double cassette player, 5-CD player, turntable and giant Sony speakers, The last sounds it made were the “Good News”!
I’d like to say that we sold everything, but I think most people aren’t rushing to buy “more stuff” to add to their already accumulated stuff! What an experience of four weeks of organizing, tagging, pricing, setting up, advertising, and putting up signs. Thankfully, my sis and I had an estate sale business in Tulsa, so it was a no-brainer to get this one done!
We prevailed. Praise the Lord! Many people stopped to hear our love story. We are happy with the returns AND the opportunities to bless a lot of people with treasures that they might not have been able to afford if it were retail prices. It was a treasure to have heart-touching conversations with people, and even praying with them.
We were obedient to God’s nudges. Isaiah 30:21 says: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
It’s easy to miss God’s invitations. Many times I can get all tangled up in my momentary “have-to” that I miss an opportunity to make someone’s day.
It’s easy to brush off those nudges – especially when our attention is to the details more than the potential moment of encouraging someone when we know they are stressed about something.
I know that I miss many simple acts of obedience. They aren’t missed because I am unaware. They are missed because I am too busy.
But, in the grand scheme of the world, how big of a thing is it that I don’t pay attention to someone? After all, how can I be sure it was really God? But, a better question would be, “How can I be sure it wasn’t God?”
The slighting of someone is maybe insignificant unless it was me not obeying God’s instruction. Once again that verse touches me about hearing God’s voice that says: “This is the way; walk in it.” And then, walk in it!
Honestly, it isn’t so much the big assignment moments. The moments may be small instructions in the most ordinary moments when God points His finger, saying, “Go there.” And in doing that, we are companions of God with eyes and ears more open, more able, and more in tune with Him. So, my prayer is “Fine-tune me, Lord!”