Have you found what you’re looking for?

I look for God everywhere I go. And I see Him everywhere I go!

I know people who dread going out in public because they expect to see rudeness and experience frustration everywhere people gather. And I have noticed that those people DO see a lot of rudeness and encounter a surprising number of frustrating experiences. My theory is that you generally find what you are looking for.

This morning I went to a coffee shop to meet a friend but I was early. I got my drink and scoped out a couple of comfy chairs for my friend and I to sit in and proceeded to just sit and wait - catching up on emails and texts as I waited.

Behind me was a man who had been sitting alone when I got there. He was drinking his coffee and just people watching. He wasn’t reading, on his phone, working on a laptop or iPad, just quietly sitting.

I am always looking for an opportunity to talk to someone God sends my way who might need some encouragement or a friendly smile. So, of course God made the man behind me turn his chair around and smile at me so I could meet him.

I found out that he is 77 years old. His wife was at home - she doesn’t get up until 9am and then she likes to be alone in the mornings so he hangs out at the coffee shop all morning. He recently started a hobby called “wire wrapping”. His work is beautiful! In talking with him I could tell he was searching for peace. He kept saying he had a lot of struggles and he finds wire wrapping peaceful and rewarding. And yet his eyes were sad and he lit up when I showed an interest in seeing pictures of his wire wrapping artwork.

The Holy Spirit kept prompting me to talk to him about Jesus - so after about 15 or 20 minutes I finally asked him if he ever thought about what might happen after he dies. He said “all the time.” I then asked him if he was a Christian or if he had ever heard about Jesus. He has friends who are Christians but he himself is not. He said he is “spiritual but not religious.” I told him that I wasn’t talking about religion but a relationship with Jesus. He said one of his friends had told him the same thing. I told him that I wanted to talk to him about Jesus because I really want to see him in heaven. He seemed to really be touched and said it was a very nice question. I told him that Jesus could give him peace and he said that was what he’s looking for. I told him that Jesus is the only way to experience true peace and that if he dies without Him, life after death will not be peaceful. I told him I would pray for him and asked what one struggle of his was that I could pray about. He said he has a growth (benign) in his lung that he is trying to find a less invasive surgical procedure to remove. He also has Valley Fever which is fungus in the lungs. He really needs Jesus! He teared up as he talked about his health struggles.

Before he left, he gave me a wire wrapped buffalo tooth on a leather necklace that he had been wearing. He told me that sometimes, when he is anxious at night, he just rubs the wire wrapped petrified wood he had around his neck and that was very calming. I told him that prayer does that for me so I would pray every time I looked at the buffalo tooth. I told him prayer is very powerful. He smiled and I gave him my phone number. I hope he will text me so I can encourage him to seek a relationship with Jesus. I pray he finds the peace he is looking for. And I am confident that he WILL find that peace because he is genuinely looking for it.

I never used to ask the Lord to send opportunities like this my way. I was afraid I wasn’t eloquent enough and wouldn’t be able to communicate the gospel clearly. I thought I would do more damage to the cause of Christ and would just invite conflict. But that is actually a really arrogant and untrusting way to live. God promises to be with us always and to give us the words necessary at the right time. He asks us to be available to serve Him in any situation He arranges for us. If I trust God not to send me into a situation I am not equipped to handle - and if I trust Him to equip me for every situation He places me in - and if I trust that He loves me and truly works all things for my good - then why should I be afraid? I shouldn’t!

I am seeking Jesus with all my heart and I finding Him in every detail of my life.

It’s energizing! I am home now but after my coffee date with my friend I enthusiastically went to volunteer at my son’s school where I was available to intervene and break up an altercation between two students and help the victim get to the office to report the incident. And at the end of the school day I picked my son and his friend (who we are trying to be a testimony to) up and brought them to our house where they are currently watching a movie upstairs. I was able to tell the boys about my buffalo tooth necklace and the man who gave it to me and how he needs Jesus and prayer.

And here I sit, my ears are ringing and the inside of my mouth is numb. And none of that matters because I am looking down at the buffalo tooth hanging from my neck and thinking about the appointment Jesus set up for me with a 77 year old man, anxious about his eternal future and looking for peace.