When it’s in your power to act!

It’s been raining a lot.

In my part of the country, there has been a daily rain shower every afternoon. Several days ago there was a downpour that started just as I began my trek home in rush hour from deep within the city. I had to pull over two times on my way home when my windshield wipers could not provide enough visibility to see clearly, even on the high-speed setting.  The first pull-over was in an apartment complex parking lot for 45 minutes.  The second stop was my workplace. I figured I could get some work done while I waited for the rain to subside to a safer level. Just as I got close, a tree branch bounced off the roof of my car and the traffic light was out. I did manage to get into the building but the electricity was out there too.

Finally, the rain subsided.

When I made it home safely, I called my children to make sure everyone made it home safe and dry. I found out my daughter had to travel from the city to her home as well! Though she didn’t describe the deluge I experienced, we had been in the storm together.

She told me a happy story.

When in the city, my daughter noticed a woman wearing scrubs and a backpack walking on the sidewalk getting drenched in the rain. My daughter also noticed there was an umbrella in the passenger door of her car. At the next red light, my daughter offered the umbrella to the pedestrian through the passenger door window. The walker’s whole face lit up as she accepted the umbrella and sprang it open over her head. Since the city driving was interrupted by traffic lights, my daughter saw the woman a few more times as she walked along shielding herself from the rain with my daughter’s umbrella.

Would I have been as generous?

I was delighted by the generous spirit of my daughter. I hope I would have done the same, but would I have hesitated? Would I have only given away an umbrella that was well-worn or inexpensive? I hope not, but it is a possibility. As it turns out, my daughter did what God told all of us to do:

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you. (Proverbs 3:27-28)

What about the woman in the rain?

The rain had caught her by surprise. It appears that she had left work to walk home or to a bus or train stop. I imagine when she first saw the raindrops that she checked the weather app to see when the rain was stopping. Would she wait it out? I also imagine she regretted not bringing an umbrella. Perhaps she quickly considered if she could buy one at the hospital gift shop. For whatever reason, she decided to brave the elements. With head down and backpack on, she headed home. The deluge quickly drenched her from head to toe.

Then a car pulled alongside and a window rolled down. 

A woman living out Proverbs 3:27-28, passed an umbrella to her because she already had it with her and it was in her power to act. This specific act of kindness will probably never happen again to that woman in her lifetime. No matter how she viewed the event — luck, or chance — God met her needs through a nice person prompted by God Himself to be kind.

God does such things all the time for each of us, doesn’t He?

Let’s be that person for someone this week. Keep an eye out and add in a story in the comments!

Picture Explanation: This little guy can pass me his umbrella any time!

Speaking of living a short life for the benefit of God and others: If you are interested in participating in a co-ed online One Gritty Blink Bible study this fall, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and send me an email so I can place you on a list to be contacted as online and face-to-face studies are planned. Let’s not just focus on things in this short life, but also what counts for eternity.

Note: No part of my posts are derived from A.I. Thoughts and writing stem from my mind and heart as I process life week-by-week and continue to grow in my understanding of God and how to apply His wisdom to the world around me.

© 2024 by Oaks Ministries. All rights reserved.

8 Responses

  1. Love this post, Laurie! Great reminders to have our eyes ooen, heart ready & ears attentive to the Holy Spirits promptings!

  2. Laurie, I had forgotten this verse! Thanks for the reminder and story! I’ve witnessed your kindness, choosing love when it’s hard, and unexpected generosity numerous times. I’m not surprised your daughter acted in kind! Thank you for consistently planting acorns through your life and Oaks Ministries so God can grow many forests (referring to the Ralph Emerson quote below)!
    You asked for a story. My week was like the storm you described, tree branches hitting and impacting my ride. I’ll not tell it here, but God gave me the grace to extend kindness in that storm. It gave peace to my soul despite the tumult. Thankful.
    Grace sufficient has been my motto through Covid and beyond. It has come to mean that I not only have at least sufficient grace (like manna) for my day, but something extra to share as God supplies and leads. May I be such a grateful recipient that I don’t hesitate to also freely give. Just writing that reminds me of the 70’s song, “Freely Give.” In looking online for that, I came across an even older song by the same title by Fanny Crosby. The lyrics to the second verse is preaching to me! Thanks, Laurie!
    https://hymnary.org/text/would_you_win_a_saviors_blessing

    “With a cheerful heart and willing,
    Freely, freely give;
    Like the dew its balm distilling,
    Freely, freely give;
    Have you little? Give your mite;
    O how precious in his sight!
    He your off’ring will requite;
    Freely, freely give.”

  3. I love this story too!! It doesn’t surprise me a bit that your daughter was so kind and thoughtful. She has learned that from her Mom and Dad! You and John have modeled kindness and generosity all of her life! You didn’t have to teach her to be kind; she learned it from watching you! Sometimes I think the best lessons are those that are “caught” and not “taught”. Either way, you and John have trained her (and your other children too) in the way they should go, and when they grow up, they will not turn from it! (That is my translation of Proverbs 22:6). I love your family!

    1. Thank you for the kind words, but I know all the times I held back. God’s grace abounds when He gives us gifts we don’t deserve, like our children.

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Planting and Watering

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes growth.

1 Corinthians 3:6

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