March 3

I was feeling apprehensive.  My brother was coming to see me for a few hours while he was in town.  We were going to lunch together.  Ordinarily I’d have been excited.  We have a good relationship; sibling rivalry is a thing of the past at our age.  But I was in the midst of a struggle, and I knew it was too intense to ignore.  Oh, it was no secret—we both knew about it. Indeed, that’s one of the reasons he was coming—to be supportive. But I didn’t want to spend the time together talking round and round about my problem.  I had a need to share the positives in our lives, and enjoy the fact that he was there.  But as heavy as my heart was, I feared that wasn’t likely to happen.

            Then suddenly, as I waited for him, there was another person there.  I’d seen her around and had casually spoken with her.  She faced some similar concerns as I had. She had picked up on that and she asked me how I was doing.  She very gently shared some thoughts and ideas and suggestions.  I found myself sharing with her some of the things I would have  unloaded on my brother.

            When he arrived, my apprehensions had vanished. Oh, we talked of them briefly, but they were no longer the big elephant in the room.  We could share some deep fellowship together.  That casual unexpected meeting with a sensitive acquaintance had been like a dose of medicine—or more accurately, like a touch of God’s grace.  What I had needed from my brother, God had already supplied through another person.  The day had become so good already; it could only get better.

            God is there for us and with us in moments we least expect and in ways we never calculated. The Psalmist said it well: “Lord, you have searched me and known me.” Psalm 139:1  Be open to God’s grace touching your life on surprising contacts and widening circles.