Chasing After You

I have a dear friend whose name is Anthony. I met him about a year and a half ago in the most unlikely of circumstances. I was out running and happened to be on a fairly busy street. Something caught my eye on the sidewalk and I stopped to take a look. I glanced up and saw a truck pulling over next to me. A man I didn’t know rolled down the window. At first, I was alarmed because it’s unusual for someone to pull over, stop, and talk to me. Immediately I felt God speak to my heart “I’m in this.”. I don’t know how the conversation started. I think he asked me something about running and I remember blurting out “I was praying while I was running and felt like God was showing me something.”. It was my explanation of why I was stopped on the sidewalk. Anthony said to me in a quiet voice “Oh, I thought you stopped because you saw I was a black man and didn’t want to make eye contact.”. Two things happened at that moment. 1. My heart sank at hearing his words and seeing the pain in his face. 2. I was being tapped by God. 

God had made an appointment for me that day that I didn’t know about. Anthony revealed he thought I was scared of him because he was a black man and I was a white woman. He thought that was the reason I stopped on my run. I was able to speak truth into that moment. I told him what I saw - a kind and wonderful man and the fact we had met meant one thing - God wanted him to know how deeply loved he was. Then I asked him if I could pray for him. He said yes and I prayed as I felt God guide – for Anthony to know how loved he was, blessing him and his family, thanking God for having the two of us meet. At the end, Anthony looked up and gave me the sweetest thank you. There’s something incredibly special that happens when God makes an appointment for you. He shows up. His presence is tangible. His love is present. Anthony and I both felt it, both smiling and feeling connected even though in reality we were two strangers who had just met on the side of the road.

Fast forward a year and a half. Anthony and I have run into each other about six times on that same road. They are God-appointed run-ins. I’m able to spot them as such because the circumstances are those only God could design. This last Sunday is a perfect example. On roughly 48 of 52 Sundays at 8:30 am, I am heading out the door to church. Last Sunday I had a cold. Stubborn runner that I am, I knew that while I shouldn’t be around other people, I could still run. So at 8:30, I headed out and as I ran down the busy street I heard a horn honking at me. I see my friend’s white truck pulled over and I knew it was my friend I hadn’t seen in many months. He tells me “I’m so glad I saw you. I’m leaving today, right now actually.” He was moving but wasn’t certain where he was going. He lives in an RV and had to find a new location/new city. What are the odds? Truly. I’m never home on Sunday mornings, let alone running. And yet this Sunday I was home, I was on a run, and I just so happened to run into my friend that I hadn’t seen in months the very moment he’s in his truck about to pull away.

God wanted Anthony to know how much he was loved. God wanted Anthony to know that while Anthony didn’t know where he was headed that day and where he was going to live, God did. God saw him. He saw his fear and worry. In his abundant love for him, God sent one of his children to go meet with him, to speak God’s love over him, to pray over him. And wouldn’t you know, at 1:04 that afternoon I received a text from my friend saying the prayers helped and he found a place he felt good about. He’s got my number and knows anytime he needs prayer, I’m here. 

I don’t know what you’re facing. I don’t know if you know Jesus, are angry with him, feel unseen by him, or even let down by him. What I do know, Jesus LOVES you. He sees you. He sees your pain. He is chasing after you to let you know just how much you are loved. That you are reading this right now, is just one of the ways he wants you to know how precious you are to him. Lift your eyes my friends. Lift them to the one who saves. He is the way maker. He is a miracle worker. He is the comforter. He is the one who no matter what you’re facing, can make a way for you, heal you, free you. Like my dear friend Anthony, I don’t want you to waste another minute thinking something about yourself that isn’t true. Believing a lie from the enemy meant to harm you that simply isn’t true. Will you meet with Jesus today? Meet the one who changes it all. Simply visit calvarlylg.com/jesus. If we can be praying for you, we would be honored to. Just click here and we will lift you up in prayer, today. 

You are loved. You are loved. You are loved.

 Blessing you with experiencing the love of Jesus today.