I had never been a participant in my previous church’s food ministry. It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted to be, I just don’t take kindly to the unknown and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. In reality, I thought that I would have to prepare the meal, serve it and hand out bags of groceries as well. The thought of it (plain and simply put) scared the bejeevies out of me!!! After all, there is nothing like keeping a volunteer from volunteering than not knowing what they are volunteering for. Seriously, all I had to do was ask, but wouldn’t asking make me look like I only wanted to volunteer if it were easy??? That wouldn’t make me much of a volunteer, would it??? Talk about feeling ill equipped, how could I possibly prepare a meal, serve it and hand out bags of groceries? My multi-tasking abilities can only go so far, but never being one to keep from doing what God is prompting me to do, I signed my name as a volunteer. The easy part was over, there was no backing out now, I’d signed in ink. “Okay God,” I did as you asked, “now what?” I couldn’t leave well enough alone, I just had to ask . . .
I wasn’t sure I’d heard Him right, but I felt certain that God was prompting me to do up twelve gift bags to give out to the first twelve families that came for groceries and a meal.
Sure God, why not add to my workload . . . prepare meals, hand out meals, hand out groceries and hey, why I’m at it, hand out gift bags. Have you ever heard that old saying, God doesn’t always call the equipped, but he equips the called? Well, he was equipping me with what I needed to place in those gift bags, all I had to do was make certain to do up twelve gift bags. I could hear Him whispering to my heart, “I need you to feed them spiritually, not just physically.”
Okay, twelve gift bags done, check. Now, what to fix for a meal (after much deliberation with another volunteer, that too was decided), check. It was around that same time that my fellow-volunteer informed me that I would NOT be handing out the meals, only preparing them. Check, check and relief, but wait!!! Did she say that I would NOT be handing out the meals??? That couldn’t be right; God had prompted me to hand out twelve gift bags with the meals. This is where the real panic set in.
I had a choice to leave the other volunteer alone in the kitchen, dishing up meals while I handed bags out, or I had to rely on someone else to hand the bags out for me.
But God (insert whining here) . . . I really don’t want to rely on someone else to do what I am supposed to do. Nothing more to be said, God checked me on what needed to be done . . . twelve bags for twelve people and it would be someone else handing them out. Ouch, maybe just maybe I’d like to have seen the reaction of those receiving the bags. Nope . . . God vetoed that idea.
The day had arrived, and with a bruised ego, I instructed those handing out groceries to also hand out the gift bags to the first twelve cars.
At the end of the day, only 32 of the 60 meals prepared were taken, with one gift bag leftover. You do the math. Thirty two meals, twelve bags, so how on earth could there be one bag left???
That’s what happens God, when I rely on someone else to do what you asked me to do. I was certain, somewhere along the line that someone had messed up what I deemed the simplest of tasks.
Now here’s where God really made His presence known to me . . .
The food giveaway was over, the kitchen was cleaned up and I had five of the leftover meals ready to take to my car. One, I was taking for my husband, three to other church family, and yes, I was keeping one for myself. With several trips to make and my hands full, someone offered to help me carry the meals to my car, but I assured them that I could do it on my own. I must have looked quite the spectacle, trying to get the back hatch of my car opened, with five meals in hand while dangling the leftover gift bag off one finger, when a car pulled up behind me. Now mind you, there were two other volunteers in that parking lot who didn’t look burdened down with bags, but for whatever reason that person pulled up behind me. Definitely not a coincidence.
“Is it too late?” she asked through her rolled down window, as she watched me shove the meals and leftover gift bag haphazardly into my car. I turned to see the person behind the voice and felt a smile go from my heart to my face as I assured her that she wasn’t too late as I took one meal from my car, handing it to her and then offered her that twelfth gift bag, telling her that God most assuredly had meant for her to have that last bag. She smiled saying, “He must have.”
As I drove to deliver those meals, minus the one for my husband (did I say that, I meant minus one for myself), God spoke very loudly and clearly to my heart, reminding me that some people get to Jesus later than others. The main thing is . . . that they get there.
And here I thought I’d misread God telling me that I needed twelve bags when in all His wisdom He was reminding me to always be prepared because you never know when someone will show up needing Christ in their lives. I know without a doubt that last bag was meant for the very person who received it. She showed up late, but she still got her meal and groceries and more than that she got a special gift from God and I have no doubt that a seed was planted through that twelfth bag, no doubt at all.