I was putting creme and stevia in my coffee at the little "bar" area and a man came up beside me to prep his coffee, and right away said: "Hello! How are you today?". I responded quickly with a "I'm doing well, how are you?". He responded with "good" or something like that. I don't really remember. Right after all of this happened, something triggered in my spirit. Sort of like a . . . "I think that man really wanted to know how I was doing". He was one of those men that has that dad smell. I don't know what it is, but it's just a very distinct cologne smell, that you smell all the time. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Anyway, as we were both standing there I just wondered if there was something more to that conversation. Like, did I need to keep talking to him? There really wasn't anything else left to say. I knew we had about 10 seconds left of fixing our coffee and then I would head out the door. Then I started to think about how much his little question kind of made me in a good mood. Not that I wasn't already in a good mood, but it made me in a better one. And then I thought, this is crazy that I'm thinking so much about a little question some random stranger asked me at the coffee bar, and that millions of people say each and every day at least twice a day to someone.
AND THEN I thought about how words are so impactful and powerful. I can chose to speak life or death today. I can speak death over myself by my lack of faith and lack of feeling like I am pursuing God as I really should. Or, I can speak life over myself today by claiming who I really am in Christ, how I am being led from glory to glory as I seek to pursue Jesus whole heartedly. That there is nothing that I CAN or CANT do to earn more righteousness, but that righteousness only comes by faith.
It's this big spiral that has occurred in my mind by one mans 5 words. He'll never know, either. I wonder what opportunities are going to present themselves to me today, and I wonder the words that are going to come out of my mouth and how they are going to effect people.
This is why I love Starbucks.
2 comments:
starbucks - i love it too linda... so reliable. :) great post though. random interactions are good to think about. i'm just glad you wrote about it!
One day, sister, you'll be entertaining an angel, as the Bible says. I was on a street in Hartford, Ct about 20 years ago. This man in a suit, WHOM I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE, walked right by me and looked at me, said "Hi Bernie" and kept going! That so stunned me, as I knew nobody in that city yet, that I still remember that, and another guy I met on at Train from Chicago to New York in 1990, as we passed over the Susquehanna River!
Linnae, he had the ruddiest and happiest face I had seen for decades and we - never knowing each other - just started praising the Lord and talking about the New Testament.
For sure, be careful, but one day - you will know and Holy Spirit will tell you (since He lives in us) that you really could be speaking to a heavenly being!
God bless you! :-))
Bernie
psalm 27:4
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