Life Giving 12: Control or Partnership

I went to a public event recently. The speaker was so popular that the hosts violated the fire codes by filling the aisles with chairs.

A lot of people saved prime seats for their friends who would be coming later. This is a basic form of life giving and was much appreciated by the friends with tight schedules. What about the friendless, though? Who is life giving to them?

I still remember a situation from 30 years ago. As I entered the arena, I asked Him where He wanted me to sit. The answer was precise. I sat in the nosebleed section, in the middle of a row.

Eventually my area filled up with a stranger on either side of me. I assumed one or the other was my assignment from God. My social skills were pretty weak, so I just prayed for those two.

The speaker talked about suicide and the choices people make leading up to it. At the break, the young lady to my right suddenly flipped her scarred wrists up to me and said, “He is so right!”

I was unprepared for that. I simply looked her in the eye and just said, “Ah.” Somehow, it landed well. She stood abruptly with her eyes wet and said, “Thank you for understanding” as she left.

Synchronizing with God makes life giving easy. I sacrificed my own comfort. I asked Him for directions where to sit. He brought the right people. He created the context for me to be life giving.

And He leveraged my one syllable answer so it got the job done!

Copyright by Arthur Burk

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