Today’s Truth

Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:40-41 NIV)

Friend to Friend

To Beth it was the confusion of an inept airline. To me, it was a divine appointment from God.

“I don’t have an assigned seat,” the disheveled young woman complained as she stumbled into the airplane.

“This one is empty,” I pointed out.

“Thanks,” she huffed as she plopped down.

The beautiful young lady was obviously exhausted. She was dressed in skin-tight jeans and a distracting low-cut T-shirt. Sunglasses hid something…I wasn’t sure what. She looked straight ahead, but I felt that her mind was traveling to a distant place.

After the plane left the ground, I pulled out a book I had written to prepare for an upcoming radio interview. Put the book down and talk to this girl, God seemed to say.

God, she doesn’t want to talk. I can tell by her body language. She’s not interested in conversation, I mentally argued.

Put the book down and talk to this girl. (God can be very persistent. Especially when it comes to one of his little lost lambs.)

I closed the book and turned to this…kid.

“So, where are you headed?” I asked.

“Home,” she replied.

“Where’s home?”

“Right outside of Charlotte,” she replied. “It’s a small town. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”

“Were you in Florida on business or pleasure?” I continued.

“I was visiting my boyfriend,” she answered.

Then she took off her sunglasses to reveal red swollen eyes. She glanced down at the book in my lap—the one about what to do with pain and difficult chapters in your life. “That’s an interesting topic,” she whispered.

“Yep,” I replied. “That’s why I wrote the book. I’ve got lots of scars.”

For the next 90 minutes, this young girl poured out her heart. She had been abandoned by her birth father and sexually abused by several men in her life. She was on this flight home because her boyfriend, who had just come out of a drug rehabilitation center, had “roughed her up.”

Actually, she was fleeing. My heart broke as this beautiful young girl told me story after story of cruelties that had been done to her mingled with bad choices that had been made through her. At the moment, her life resembled a 100-car train wreck with one lone survivor who was in desperate need of life resuscitation.

Have you ever noticed how Jesus paid attention to single individuals as He walked this earth? He stopped and noticed Zacchaeus in a tree (Luke 19:2-4), paused His journey to heal a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years ( Mark 5:25-34), changed His travel plans to attend to a twelve-year-old little girl (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43), paused along the road to give a blind man his sight, (Mark 8:22-26), stopped and had a conversation with a Syrophoenician mother about her daughter (Mark 7:24-30) and comforted a distraught father about his son ( Mark 9:14-29).

Jesus stopped what He was doing. Here’s what I want us to memorize today, “Jesus stopped.”  That’s it. It’s never a good idea to memorize just part of a verse, but I think Jesus would approve. Jesus stopped.

After listening to Beth’s story, I asked her if I could pray for her. I held Beth’s hand and God’s love for this girl filled my heart. When the plane landed, I handed Beth the book, we exchanged e-mails, and embraced one last time. Later, her stepfather wrote me a letter expressing his appreciation for taking the time to minister to his “little girl.”  He wrote: “I had been praying for God to send someone to minister to Beth, and He did.”

Be on the lookout. Who is God putting in your path? Be ready to stop. Don’t miss the opportunity. You could be someone’s miracle today.

Who is one person who stopped for you? Leave a comment and let’s share.

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father, I am amazed that You use simple weak vessels like me to be Your hands and feet. Help me to keep my eyes open as I move through my day. Don’t let me miss the opportunities that You provide to reach out and share Your amazing love.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

Today, you have an assignment. Grab your Bible and look up the following verses: Luke 19:1-9 and Mark 5:21-34.

What was Jesus doing? Where was He going? Who did He take time to notice? What was the outcome?

What can you learn and apply to your life by the example Jesus set?

More From the Girlfriends

Did you know that Sharon has lots of FREE downloads to encourage and equip you in your faith journey? 55 Verses of How God Transforms Our Lives and Redeems Our Stories, 10 Verses of How God is Always Working Behind the Scenes, Words that Build Strong Relationships with Adult Children, and many more are available with one click!

For more on how to live bold as Sharon talked about in today’s devotion, see her book, Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let go, Move forward, Live bold.

© 2022 by Sharon Jaynes. All rights reserved.

6 Responses to “You Could Be Someone’s Miracle”

  1. Carol says:

    I love this devotional!
    One of my favorite passages is Luke 18:41 which is the question Jesus asked of the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?”
    Every person Jesus came in contact with, He already knew the their problems. He just wanted them to ask!
    I know that our Lord can see into the person’s mind and heart; He just needs us to realize He can make our desires possible!
    I’m praying for “the eyes to see and ears to hear” for others. I want to be that person “with the light”.
    Thank you Sharon for this lesson on being that light bearer for someone!

  2. Cynthia Neville says:

    I really thank you for the devotional this morning.I love the fact that Jesus stopped. I never saw this before, thanks for bringing that out in this scripture.I want to be able to stop for others that are hurting, and in need.I have always been the type of person that had to go, go, go.
    But since losing my husband 17 months ago, I have been able to see that we need to be available to those in need.

  3. Kim says:

    Thank you for these verses and for sharing your story. Just yesterday, I was at a store and the dear man working in the checkout said to me “No one pays attention to me when I’m out on the floor, they just walk by.” I talked to him and awkwardly said I’m sure it’s not him, but that people are busy and stressed. I encouraged him to have a good day and now I know I need to be more bold when these opportunities come up. I should have told him how important he is and that he makes a difference in people’s lives there at the checkout. Thank you so much for the reminder that we are Jesus’ representatives out in the fray.

  4. Amy says:

    This is my story from 39 years ago. I was married only three weeks when I lost my Dad to cancer. I was living in a new state with my new husband and having a hard time finding my place there. I went to an open interview for a job that turned out to be not at all what I was looking for. I did, however, meet my miracle. An older woman was sitting beside me and we struck up a conversation that ended in the two of us having lunch together at a restaurant next door. I told this angel all about my family’s struggle over the past year dealing with my Dad’s illness. I probably cried as she just listened for what might have been hours. I never saw her again and I don’t even remember her name but I know that God placed her in my path at the exact moment in time when I (and my new marriage) needed a miracle.

  5. Paula says:

    Sharon, thank you so much for sharing this story! When you mentioned the stepfather’s letter, it literally took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. Oh, to be used by God in such a powerful way!

  6. Rebecca says:

    One word summarizes my personal experience with this devotion. WOW! Last week I made plans to go to the beach with a couple of girlfriends yesterday afternoon. I was going to use my last half day, which I am unable to roll over into the new school year in the fall. Slowly, and one at a time, both of my friends realized they had evening plans, and we would need to leave early. On Monday, I learned we had a staff meeting on Wednesday. “STOP.” Really God? I really get to go see my students from my former school graduate from 8th grade? “Yes, Becky. You do.” God spoke! I had transferred to a school within my district this year to be closer to home. Although I love my new surroundings and students, my heart ached at the thought that I wouldn’t see my other kids graduate. God made it work! Doesn’t He always? I had seen the kids last week and got their happy, surprised looks and lots of hugs. Last night, the same experience with their parents. Thank you, God. Something so simple, yet full of life!

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"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well…" 1 Thessalonians 2:8