Unexpected Blessing from God

     We serve a God who can do whatever He pleases. Sometimes we don’t even realize what He is doing and other times He does it right in our face. Recently, I experienced one of those “in your face moments” where God blessed me in an unexpected way.

     Melodee and I were babysitting our two grandsons and I decided to take the older grandson to the grocery store to pick up some snacks. Afterall, that’s what grandfathers do. We picked out some snacks and were ready to checkout. There was a middle-aged gentleman in front of us checking out with a few items. To avoid any confusion at the checkout, I put one of those square dividers between our orders. The gentleman immediately removed the divider and said there was no need to do that. When his items were being scanned, my items were right behind his. The clerk started scanning my goods! I immediately brought this to the clerk’s attention and the gentleman said, “That’s ok, I will pay for his also.” I was shocked and I immediately protested his action, telling him it was not necessary.

     His response to me “blew my mind.” He said, “I sense you are a man of God and I want to do this for you.” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. He paid for the order and I thanked him for doing this. I also told him I was a follower of Christ. As we departed, I shook his hand and told him what a blessing this was.

     As he was leaving, I started thinking about what I could do for him. Part of the reason for this internal response was because I didn’t think I needed him to do this for me. I was thinking in terms of reciprocating in some fashion for what he had done for me. Then I realized God was blessing me in an unexpected way and I should not try to undermine that blessing. Also, I didn’t want to undermine the blessing this stranger was receiving from God by giving to a brother in Christ.

     As I reflected on this some more, an incident came to mind a couple days before when we were travelling home from Indiana. At a rest stop, a lady came up to me and asked for some gas money. She needed to travel back to a restaurant to get her purse which she had left behind. I gave her twenty dollars, which is all I had, and she thanked me and blessed me. As I thought about the encounter with this lady, I had second thoughts about the wisdom of giving her money. Then I came to the realization that it doesn’t make any difference. God knew the situation and I wasn’t going broke over giving her the money. So, I placed it into the Lord’s hand to work our His will.

     Perhaps, and I say perhaps because I am not sure, that God used this brother in Christ at the grocery store to bless me in an unexpected way. Just as this lady at the rest stop chose me to ask for money, this gentleman chose me to bless me with this unexpected purchase. Regardless whether I have this all figured out or not, the result is the same. God blessed me in a totally unexpected way to show His love for me.