Can You Hear Me Now?

   Jane woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep.  “Why am I still awake?” she whispered harshly as she rolled over in a search of rest.  Then the face of her friend Beth came to mind.  Why was Beth having a late night pop-in in her thoughts?  It wasn’t even a month ago that she met Beth while riding on a bust to a Women’s Conference when they struck up a conversation.  Yes, they were friends but not soul sisters, at least not yet.  So why Beth?

   The answers weren’t coming, so what do you do when you can’t sleep and a friend keeps coming to mind?  You pray.  So that is what Jane did, she prayed.  She didn’t know exactly how to pray for Beth or what might be happening, but she figured that God doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night to pray for someone unless it was important, so she prayed.  The prayer was sincere but along with faith there is always some doubt.  Was she kidding herself?  Was she someone so special that God would choose her to pray for a friend in the middle of the night?  What kind of ego trip was she on any way?  The doubt was there but as she prayed, God’s peace settled in letting her know that she was doing exactly what God wanted.

   Sleep eventually returned and so did the next morning with all the daily routines.  Getting ready, eating breakfast and getting out the door.  At one point in the day, Jane knew she had to make a run across town.  Traffic is typically a nightmare in the middle of the day, so she planned to give herself plenty of time.  To her surprise traffic was non-existent and she ended up way ahead of schedule.  What was she going to do with this newfound extra time?  That’s when Beth came to mind once again.

   This time there was also a message attached, “Buy Beth some flowers.”  “Are you serious?” Jane said out loud.  It wasn’t an audible voice.  It was more like the voice you are hearing in your head right now as you read these words.  You can hear it, but only in your own thoughts.  The answer came back, “Buy Beth some flowers.”  Jane was just passing the store and knew that she had plenty of time to pick up some flowers and keep her schedule, but…

   “But” is a funny word, isn’t it?  It’s small BUT it can have huge implications.  I wanted to buy you a birthday card BUT I forgot.  I meant to turn north BUT I turned south.  I’d love to skip out and go to the game BUT I have a meeting.  Luke22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, BUT yours be done."  A lot of things hinge on that combination of three little letters.

   Jane wanted to follow this prompting but what in the world was God thinking?  How was she going to explain to Beth why she is buying flowers for her?  How was she going to explain why she is spending time thinking about Beth in the middle of the night?  Getting flowers is nice, but getting them from some strange woman you barely know because GOD told her to buy them for you is just plain weird.  Jane didn’t want to be weird; friendly but not weird.

   Despite her internal arguments, Jane pulled in to the store parking lot to buy some flowers.  On her way in she began to think of a few other things she would buy that would somehow justify this odd side trip.  In the end, she left the store with flowers in hand and an additional errand to run.  Implicit in the “Buy Beth some flowers” was the further responsibility to deliver those flowers.

   All the way to Beth’s house the voice of doubt crept back into her mind.  Again, there was no audible voice but the message was clear: “She’s going to think you are crazy”, “That’s the last time she strikes up a conversation with a stranger on a church bus”, and “Watch out for Jane, she hears voices and does what they say.”  Again, the traffic wasn’t bad, but the trip back across town was awful.

   When Jane arrived at Beth’s house, she got out of the car and began to reach for the flowers, when she stopped.  The voice of doubt had made an impact.  Maybe she would just go to the door and see if Beth was even home before grabbing the flowers.  Maybe, if Beth seemed fine, she could just take the flowers home and nobody would ever know that she hears voices.  So Jane walked up to the door but left the flowers in the car.

   Beth answered the door and it was obvious that she had been crying.  Jane was taken aback by how upset her friend appeared.  She asked what was wrong and that is when Beth began to sob.  Through her tears Beth described how earlier that morning she was in an automobile accident that injured the other person involved.  Beth went on to describe how she was hoping to be able to someday say she was sorry to the other person and buy her some flowers.

   Goosebumps erupted all over Jane.  She asked Beth to wait a second as she ran to her car to retrieve the flowers.  As she walked back towards the house Beth was just staring at her with her mouth wide open.  “What are those?”, Beth asked.  Jane did her best to explain how God prompted her the night before to pray for Beth and then to buy her flowers.  Goosebumps are contagious because now Beth had them too.

   I talked with Jane about this event the other day and she said, “Most women are lucky to get flowers from a loved one on their best day.  Beth must be pretty special because God loves her so much that He wanted her to get flowers on her worst day.”  Of course God would want to do that for her BUT He couldn’t have done it without Jane.

   The above story is true.  The names have been changed to protect the humble.  The challenge of the story is this: When God speaks, will you listen?  When God calls, will you answer?  When God says, “Buy Flowers” will you say “BUT…?”

   Read Luke 22:39-44 and think about what life would have been like if Jesus had taken a pass on His God-given mission. Remember that Jesus was just as human as you are when God was calling Him.  The last time I checked, God has yet to call me to suffer the way Christ did and yet I can always find an excuse.  I can always find a “BUT”.  How about we all learn to say the words of Christ: “Not My Will, BUT Yours Be Done!”