Still more girl than woman, she works quietly, organizing the shelves at Kroger, our local grocery store. It’d be easy for anyone to walk past her and not even notice her there. But for me, she’s brighter than anyone else in the building.
Her. It’s her. She’s the one I’m supposed to go pray for.
I muster up my courage with an “Okay, God, let’s do this” and approach her. She senses me coming, stops what she’s doing, and with complete genuineness asks the simple words, “How are you today?”
“I’m good. I was actually wondering if I could pray for you?”
“Sure!”
Wow. That was easy.
I ask if there’s anything specific she needs prayer for, and then talk with her a little to get to know her more.
Her name is Tosha. She’s a freshman at the local university, studying health science. Balancing college and work has been a struggle….and it’s Finals week.
The stress and worry are written all over her face.
Before I know it, she asks for a hug. The “yes” is barely from my mouth when her arms are already around my waist. I hold her until she lets go, sensing how greatly she needs the comfort.
“Can I hold your hands while I pray for you now?”
“Yes, please.”
The words that flow from my mouth speak of encouragement and peace. They’re words directly from the Heavenly Father to his daughter. I pray for blessing in work and school; that bosses and teachers would see and recognize how greatly she dedicates herself to both things.
I get words and feelings of how greatly God loves her, the beauty of how He sees her and made her, and do my best to convey it to her.
Where once was stress and worry, a sparkle of joy has returned to her face. She thanks me for stopping, says she needed this greatly; this week has been so rough for her. And then I realize why God had me stop for this one…
My Heavenly Father, my Abba, is one who knows and loves His children deeply. He sees them every second of every minute of every day and knows exactly what they’re going through. And it’s His heart for each of us to know how greatly He watches over us. For us to be encouraged, to have hope, to not carry our burdens alone. For us to know we are seen, known, and deemed worthy of His love.
And He wanted Tosha to remember that as well in the midst of her troubles.
After a hard (almost) two days of battling lies, I sat down in front of this “mirror of truth” I made last semester of CGA. It felt like I was drowning and I needed to write this blog as a class assignment, but I just couldn’t. I needed a reminder of the truth of my identity in Christ before I could move on and focus on anything else.
My Father’s voice finally broke through all the nonsense in my head. He reminded me of my moment with Tosha just a few days ago and the truth of His character He’d revealed in that time.
There’s not a day that goes by where I’m invisible to God, where He’d let me slip through the cracks. There’s not a day where He isn’t fighting for me, protecting me, or looking out for me. He’s right there beside me, taking me by the hand, so He can catch me when I stumble.
My Father. He sees me, He knows me, and He deems me worthy of His love.
