The waves lapped at the shores of Siesta Key and seagulls scurried away as we approached. Weaving my fingers through my husbands, we lost ourselves in conversation as the sun sank low on the horizon. A man approached us and interrupted our peaceful walk.
I didn’t feel up to socialization, but common courtesy caused us to pause long enough to let him speak his mind. He made his point quickly, “do you believe in prayer?”
A beach side evangelical. I admired his determination. “Yes,” we responded.
He looked disappointed, no evangelizing here. We struck up small talk for a few moments. As we began to part he stopped us. “Can I still pray for you?”
Who would refuse that? As the man began to pray I knew I was in the middle of a God moment. Tears flooded my eyes as he prayed about our dreams and our future. About alot of things I don’t even remember. I remember the most important part–it was exactly the hope my heart needed. God used this man to give me courage to continue the path He called me on.
That man may have walked away wondering if he wasted his breath on people who were already Christians. I walked away with a little more strength to keep going. That moment, ordained by God, was not a waste.
On that trip to Florida in 2018, God used various ways to encourage me on the path of writing my devotional I Need Jesus. That year I poured myself into writing, designing, and finding a supplier to print it. The I Need Jesus devotional was the birth of my writing dreams.
Spring 2022, three years after it’s release, I sold my last I Need Jesus devotional. As my supply dwindled, I pondered ordering more. Deep in my heart though, I knew it served its purpose. It is hard to lay to rest something that held so much meaning in my heart. Yet, because something is over doesn’t mean it doesn’t have lasting impact. That man’s prayer lasted mere minutes, but as I type this today my heart still beats with the impact it had.
If that man hadn’t stopped and prayed for us, would I have still written that devotional? I won’t ever know. What I do know is, his small act made a big impact on my heart. That man will never know how much it mattered. He may have declared it a waste of his precious evangelical time. I certainly have deemed things in my life a waste of time.
However, the truth is, nothing done in the name of the Lord is a waste.
Keep doing the small things, friend. You may never know how much a small deed done in Jesus’ name will impact someone’s heart. That impacted heart may just reach many other hearts. Who are we to know? We don’t deem what matters and what doesn’t. We follow in faith believing each small act, even a cool drink of water, has eternal impact. Our feelings of worth rise and fall as we try to measure the impact of everything. When we stop trying to figure out if something has meaning, and instead start believing God can use it all for eternal significance, we can run in freedom following His gentle lead.
Goodbye sweet devotional, may your existence have eternal impact.
P.S. the I Need Jesus devotional will still be available as an Ebook, but for the time being I will not be ordering anymore hardback physical books.
