Months Later

Driving home from work one chilly, rainy evening last Fall, I saw a nightstand on the curb.

“Stop and take that home.”

“No thanks. I don’t need a nightstand.”

“Stop and take that home.”

“Uh-uh … I don’t want it.”

“Stop and take that home.”

“Really, no thank you. I won’t use it and there’s nowhere to put it at home.”

“Stop and take that home.”

Rudely, I disobyed the Lord telling me to stop and take the nightstand home for about 10 more minutes and many miles farther. Knowing He meant business, I finally listened and obeyed. Turning around, driving back, heaving that heavy, soaking wet nightstand into my trunk, I still doubted there was a valid reason for me to get it. What in the world am I going to do with this? We really don’t have room for it, nor a need. So there it sat, unused, just like I had thought, for the next year, in a storage room.

Fast forward to this Summer. A friend of mine moved and was looking for a few household goodies like mugs, lamps, etc. As I was gathering some of my overflow to give him, the Lord spoke clearly, “Hey, remember that nightstand? That’s for your friend.” “Really? Alrighty then, I’ll offer it to him.”

My friend came over and I gave him the miscellaneous things I had and then said, “I have one piece of furniture for you if you need it.”

And by golly, do you know what he said before I could tell him what it was?

“I hope it’s a nightstand. That’s the one piece of furniture I need.”

Wow!! Who would have thought all those months ago standing in the rainy cold with that nightstand it would serve a totally different purpose than I imagined?

God has been opening my eyes to the fact our obedience to Him isn’t just about us. Our obedience, and disobedience, affects countless others. Some we may get to see, like with my friend and the nightstand, but many we may never know and must simply walk in faith and surrender. All because He is worthy of our respect and His plans are far greater than ours.

A few days after I saw my friend and these were his exact words: “That nightstand fits perfectly in the small space I have in my room.” Perfectly. Something so small as a nightstand; something so small as my obedience to pick it up … fit perfectly into God’s plans.

“And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
~Isaiah 6:3, 8