God in the Grocery Store?

          That is a crazy idea! I didn’t know if it was from me or from the Lord. Lord is that You?

      
          I walked around the empty grocery store. I had just come from my Bible study teacher/mentor/friend’s house. Her sweet husband of many years was home and on hospice care. They did not give him many days to live. Earlier in the day, I went to her house to see if there was anything I could do to help and was glad she asked me to run an errand for her so she could stay by his side.

          Now I was on my way home to my husband and young kids and stopped by the store to grab some milk and things for breakfast.

          That’s when the thought popped into my head.

“Offer to spend the night at her house.” 

          It was clear and distinct. It was so clear it almost sounded like it was said out loud. It wasn’t though. It must be my mind making things up. The more I walked around the aisles the stronger the thought became.

“Offer to spend the night at their house.”

          Was this my thought or was this the Lord? I didn’t know. I started talking back to the Lord (never a good idea!). “Lord, if this is you, this is a crazy idea. She is not going to want me to spend the night at her house. Her husband is on hospice and lots of people have been over to see them.

Still, the thought persisted.

          They have many life long friends checking in on them, if she wanted someone to spend the night, it would be one of them.  ---The thought was firm, and I couldn’t shake it.

          I decided to test and see if this was the Lord, or just my own thought.  I would call my husband and run it by him. He would definitely think it was a crazy idea. He would not want me to spend the night there, plus he would have to take care of the kids alone if I did that. He would be the filter, if he thought it was a crazy idea, I would know it was my own thought and not what God wanted me to do. I turned down the frozen food aisle and called him.

          “Hey, I had this thought that I should call and offer to spend the night at their house. What do you think?”   I knew there was no way he would think it was a good idea.

   “Sure, go for it!” he said. “If that is what you think the Lord wants you to do.”

          I was shocked. It was weird that he would agree so readily.

          I knew I had to call my friend. It was an out-of-the-box offer, and I was sure she would decline. Who offers to spend the night at someone’s house like this? But the thought was strong and I would not have peace until I obeyed. Her response to me was not as important as my response to what I knew now was the Holy Spirit.

          I stopped my cart in the baking aisle and dialed my friend’s number.

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Have you ever had a thought come to you and wondered if it was your own thought or the Lord?   Click here for Part 2.

“As soon as they hear me, they will obey me." Psalm 18:44