Psalm 31:15 says, “My times are in your hands.” If our times are in His hands, then they no longer belong to us. They belong to Him, and if they belong to Him that I can trust Him with my every moment. That means my life is now His story, which makes my story a grand adventure.
I went to a Subway sandwich shop today right after our new Eucharist service to get my regular all-veggie sub before my normal Monday afternoon meeting with Karen Welch, who is the ministry director of Aslan Roars ministry. When I got to Subway, the line was almost out the door. It was the longest line I’d ever stood in at that particular subway, or any subway for that matter. The interesting thing, though, is that I wasn’t anxious at all about how long it was going to take because before I got there, Jesus spoke in me – to me – about how much He was anticipating encountering the people (even if just the servers) in that particular subway shop on this particular day. Obviously, then, when I got there, I was alert and oriented with great joy in my faith about what Jesus and I were going to be up to. I knew we were going to have some fun. I just wasn’t sure what it would look like. Because my times are in His hands, I am convinced that he is in charge and in control of every nanosecond, and therefore His timing is perfect. While standing in line, I became aware of a tall, semi elderly gentleman standing in front of me. I just picked up the vibe as he was talking to someone else that he was a really nice guy. When you are abiding in Christ, all you have to do is bide your time until Jesus wants to jump into something. After a few minutes, I overheard him speaking under his breath, with his back turned to me, about how painful it was to be standing that long.
Having heard that, as a follower of Christ, we jumped into action. I asked him if his back was bothering him, and he said that it wasn’t his back but that he had neuropathy in his legs and feet, and it caused them to hurt really bad, standing that long on that hard floor. I asked him his name (it was Cleo), and then I asked him if I could pray for his healing. With a smile on his face, he said, “Sure.” I think Cleo was actually excited about me praying for him, or possibly he was just a little nervous about some stranger in a purple clergy shirt asking him that question. Either way, he was very gracious, and I prayed for him. I can tell you this; I know for certain that Jesus was excited about praying for him, and He had timed this whole subway longline event perfectly so that I would be just in line at the right time behind just the right person. After I prayed for Cleo, I asked him if he was better. His nervous response (he was being so polite) was, “Yeah, I think it is.” I don’t know if he recognized that healing was happening or not or if he was just trying to make me happy, but I didn’t have to ask him again because as the line slowly progressed, he voluntarily kept turning around and telling me, “I’m not kidding. My legs and feet are so much better.” With every fresh report, he joyfully was expressing, with a good bit of shock in his voice, how progressively better it was getting. When I finally checked out and turned to leave, I thought Cleo was long gone from the store, but there he was, sitting in the last booth before the door with a huge smile on his face and both thumbs up.
I’m so glad that we went (me and Jesus – Jesus in me) went to Subway today, exactly the right moment, and I’m so glad for that long line that allowed me the time to get to know Cleo and to participate in Jesus healing his legs and feet. I think this is what walking in the spirit actually looks like. One step at a time living in hilarious anticipation of what the one who holds our times in his hands is going to do next. In Christ! It’s the only way to travel.