The Ministry is Not All at "Church"

It's one of those nice rainy days to have every once in a while. I didn't set my alarm clock for this morning, awoke at 11:00 to a gloomy drizzle, and decided quite eagerly that it would be fun to go to Panera to write a book review and get caught up on some much needed e-mails. Sliding into a back corner of the crowded bread-focused-restaurant, I began to become immersed with an e-mail and a letter I was trying to write.

Glancing up, I saw a young woman sitting at a table in front of me. Quickly scanning the contents of her table, I was interested to see that a well worn Bible sat in front of her, along with a journal that she had been writing on. But something was unusual. Her hands were cupped around her face and tears were falling. As soon as I saw this tender scene I heard the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear. An awkward silence ensued between me and what Jesus was asking me to do. I told Jesus it would be a little weird to walk over there and sit down. The Holy Spirit won when He commented that here was a woman, I was called into women's ministry, and I was the one to minister. Hesitantly I stood up, grabbed my cup of coffee, and pulled out the chair beside her.

One look at her face and tears welled up in my eyes. God was purely at work. I opened my mouth to say something, she looked at me, and I found myself saying, "Hi, how can I pray for you?" Nothing was awkward, she just cried and began to pour her heart out to me concerning some problems she was having. Having just gone through a similar circumstance, I found myself giving her bits of wisdom, listening to her talk, and praying for my new friend. Slowly, God did something in my heart those 15 minutes. He showed me the beauty of obedience and the joy of ministering to women. My heart broke for this young woman, and God pealed back a layer of my pride and introduced me to an element of compassion and love that I had never experienced before.