The Bear That Jesus Sent

What happened today was no coincidence.

I was in a meeting when someone stood up and said, "We have this safety app that tells us when there's an active shooter situation. I've just gotten an alert that says there's a bear outside. Please don't go out right now." 

We sat, dumbfounded for a moment, and stared at him.

He read the message again, then looked back up at us. "At the end, it says, 'This is not a joke.'" 

We sat there as long as we could. You probably know what happened the minute our speaker finished her talk. A roomful of doctors stood up. "Let's go see the bear."

We headed out. I'm not exactly sure why we decided we should cut through the finance department of this large ministry, but we stampeded them. "We want to see the bear."

The finance people had a great view. Unfortunately, the bear had already been tranquilized, caged, and transported to his next destination. I was determined to have a picture of the bear to send to my son, Ryan, so I asked around the department.

One of the ladies offered to share her bear picture with me, and we struck up a conversation. She tried to send the photo to me but the email wouldn't go through. We chatted some more as she tried again. I don't know where the bear pictures went, but they never made it to my computer.

The delay, however, allowed us to get acquainted. She noticed the MD on my name tag. I told her about working with Global Outreach and the Untapped Power Grid project. "That sounds like something my mother would enjoy," she told me. Her mother is older and had wanted something purposeful to do. We exchanged email addresses. I promised to send some information.

"It's kinda crazy how God used that bear to connect us, isn't it?" I asked her. 

She nodded and grinned. "Yeah. None of the doctors ever come in here."

"You never had a bear come visit before. Especially one that was a servant of God."

We laughed, but it was the truth. If the bear hadn't come, we wouldn't have left our meeting to find it, and we wouldn't have stampeded the finance department, and I wouldn't have pestered everyone about a photo, and wouldn't have met my new friend, or told her about my project, or recruited her mama to pray for my missionaries.

There is no one, and no thing, God can't use. From bears to cranky email servers, He will accomplish His purposes. I saw that truth all over again today.

No matter what you're facing, consider the bear that Jesus sent. If He can use a  bear to recruit an elderly prayer warrior, there's no telling what He can use to meet your need. 

Today, let's offer our needs to God and invite Him to do whatever He chooses in our situation. However He chooses.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 nasb

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In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. 

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: When Faith Gets Real: Loving Like Jesus with Skin On
#bearatFocus #faith