A Taxi and a Card

On this particular day, I had an important appointment scheduled that couldn’t be changed. At the last minute a series of complications arose that left me with no transportation. It also turned out to be a difficult time of day to find the only other option, a taxi. After some effort, we were able to secure one but, only a few minutes later, the situation changed again and the original plans for my ride were working out. Immediately, we tried to contact the taxi driver to cancel, but for some reason we couldn’t reach him. It was odd how things were working out, but when I prayed, concerned about the expense involved, the Lord simply told me not to hesitate to take the taxi.

When the driver arrived, he seemed pretty down, almost sullen, definitely not the happy type of person that I would have preferred. He didn’t seem inclined to talk at all and seemed almost resentful that I was trying to open up a conversation. I kept praying for a way to connect with him.

Upon asking about his family, I discovered that he had three children, ages 16, 8, and 3. I remarked that it must be pretty difficult to raise them in such a complex, often confusing, and almost always expensive world, although I was sure that he was happy to have them and that he must love them a lot.

He confirmed that it was indeed very difficult. I sympathized with him, adding that this world does throw a lot of very difficult things at you, and there are many tests and trials, but God is always ready to help us if we’ll ask Him.

As it was the Christmas season, the Lord had laid on my heart to take along a Christmas card to give him. After telling him my name, I asked his, and then wrote it on the envelope: Richard. As we continued on our journey, I told him that I had brought a card for him, and I asked him if I could read him the message from it. He muttered a positive response, and I thanked Jesus silently.

The message was about how much God loved him, and that He was always with him. At the end of the trip when I paid him, I gave him the card along with a substantial tip as a Christmas gift, telling him that he could consider this a token that the Lord was with him and was going to take care of him. He seemed very touched when he thanked me. In only a few minutes his attitude had changed. He was softer and actually gave me a smile.

Afterwards, although I was still a little concerned about the cost, I was praying that the Lord would use it to work in this man’s life in some way. When He told me to count it as a gift to the poor and an investment in a life, I was very encouraged.

As I always like to do after any witnessing experience, I asked the Lord to express His perspective on what took place. I love to hear what He has to say about the little adventures He takes me on. I find so much encouragement and motivation from hearing how what might have looked like a small happening to me has fit into His plan for myself and others. So often, we are just doing what we can to be faithful to share His love in the way He shows us, and we don’t see it as any big deal. Come to think of it, though, any opportunity to share His love is significant in the Lord’s eyes. He knows that every effort we invest is of great value when it comes to bringing someone closer to Him.

Here’s what the Lord gave me in prophecy:

When circumstances arise that are out of the ordinary, it’s always wise to pause to ask for any instruction or counsel I may have. It usually only takes a moment.

You have no idea what even a little of My Spirit can accomplish. I orchestrate many things to bring opportunities for you to witness. Consider all the unexpected changes in plans that led you to think you would have to get to the appointment via a taxi. Then, once the taxi was booked, when everything changed again and the taxi was no longer necessary, I prevented you from being able to contact the taxi to cancel it.

I know the hearts of My children. I hear their desperate cries for help, and I’ll go to whatever lengths it takes to show My love and concern for those who call for My help. Richard had faced a number of troubles; his funds were dwindling, and the burden of finding any way he could to provide for his family had become exhausting.

He was questioning his faith, wondering if I even noticed how bad things were for him and how the stress was becoming more than he could handle. The joy that once filled his life was draining away rapidly and it didn’t seem like anyone cared. Even his family only saw that they didn’t have the things they wanted, and their complaining and grumbling had left him feeling worthless and hopeless!

He was on his own and he couldn’t see a way forward. But that little card, and the fact that you, a total stranger, cared enough to find out his name and to use it to thank him for doing his job the best he could, turned on a light in his life.

He was surprised how something so simple could have such meaning to him. If someone he didn’t even know could lift his spirit with a simple acknowledgment of his value as a father and husband and provider, he felt that maybe there was hope that this difficult time would pass too. He thought that maybe I was still paying attention and somehow would get him out of the mess he was in.

Your tuning in to My nudges didn’t transform his life into everything he would have liked it to be. He didn’t instantly have all the money he wanted to have. It didn’t cure some deadly sickness or raise someone from the dead. But it reestablished his foot on the Rock, Me, and restored his hope, that with a little time and work, the ashes of the past might allow the flowers to grow again.

Hope is the beginning of new things. It’s the seed that creates new possibilities. It’s the beginning of the restoration process. The person who delivers My message isn’t always around long enough to see what eventually grows from their prayers and care, yet the change is real and the results can be far more than they would have expected.

So never despise the day of “small” things. Consider what lengths I went to in order to create the opportunity for you to be there to encourage Richard and help him to look up. That boost helped shift his perspective enough to bring him to a better place.

It’s easy to get so focused on saving some money that it risks crowding out a chance to save something that is infinitely more important. You chose rightly and I was able to use you to begin a chain reaction that will one day be seen as the transformation that it is. What it leads to is more important than the money or inconvenience or time that is invested.

So if something disrupts plans or things seem to go wrong, that’s a good time to look around and ask Me to show you if there is something I want you to do or say or follow Me into. Just put the outcome into My hands. The things I entrust to those who love Me won’t return void. There is a purpose more wonderful than you might see in the moment. It will be fulfilled because you are walking in sync with Me.