Cold Water
During the War for Independence, as officers advanced in ranks and soldiers became heroes, there was someone quietly and dutifully carrying out the bare necessities of everyday life. “Molly Pitcher” carted water to the battlefield; not a glamorous chore to volunteer for. Yet in a very real way, she was the lifeline to those fighting on the frontlines!
In a similar way, we can turn our view of ordinary duties from “meeting life’s bare necessities” into “serving alongside God’s frontline soldiers in the spiritual battle”! What an opportunity!
Such opportunities regularly present themselves throughout real life’s ordinary circumstances, such as making meals, praying (2 Corinthians 10:3-4a), and shopping.
God is waiting for you to invite Him to walk with you in your ordinary and make it extraordinary through Him!
“And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)
You can be doing everyday things and be on the frontlines of witnessing, leading people to “the water that I shall give him” which “shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”! And speaking of water and witnessing, here is another application:
“And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” (Luke 16:24)
Time does not wait until we have it all together and can begin a grand missionary feat. Are you willing to take the Water of Life to those in need? And, like Molly Pitcher, do it NOW—with your everyday life?
“Should we go to a real checkout or a self checkout?” we asked. “Let’s go to that next one” Papa answered. (Regular checkout.) “I was thinking the same thing!” I said.
Oh…that lane is full—well, we can wait for the family in front of us to get finished. There was a dad with two kids checking out with their full load of groceries. Here is an opportunity that God has dropped right in our lap! (No wonder this is the checkout God had us go to!)
“Would your kids like a pretend million dollar bill our family made?” I asked. “Sure!” said the dad. I told them that they were specially made for the 250th of America. Both kids were thrilled about the millions and the dad was very grateful. I offered one to him as well which he readily accepted.
A little later the mom joined them and I was able to give her a different million which she gratefully received. The Lord orchestrated this interaction and allowed us to be a true blessing to this family—and now they have the Gospel explained three different ways! Praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity!”
~Anna
Our family took tracts to a county fair, and God really blessed!
Here are some of our testimonies:
Near the beginning of our time there, a mom with her little boy came up to my sister and I, and said, “My son saw you handing something out, so we tracked you down to find out what it was.” We handed both of them a patriotic million, and she said “I’m glad that we found you and got them!” As they walked away, I said to Charity, “We’re glad that they got them too!”
~Elijah
Toward the end of the evening, a girl nearby talking to her friends pointed at us, and we got the impression that she was talking about the tracts. A bit later, she came over and asked “Can I have one of those?” We said “Yes” and gave her one. Then she excitedly ran back to her friends to show them what she had gotten!
~Jeffrey
God led me to take some curved illusion tracts, and I’m glad I did because the last person to receive them especially liked them! I had given them to the husband and he gave them to his wife. As they walked away she turned around and said, “I like these!” It was really neat to see how God orchestrated the timing for her to get one, since that was my last set!
As we left the fair, I felt led to give a tract to a couple who were watching their child on one of the rides. I walked over and asked the Dad, “Have your children gotten their animal card yet?” He said no, so I let him chose one for his child. He picked one out, and I could tell that he was truly grateful as he expressed his thanks.
It was special that God gave me this encounter!
~David
At the beginning of our time, I was able to have a bit of a conversation with a man that refused a tract saying he was an atheist. Although I was not expecting to have a conversation with him, God gave me the things to say. I knew that it was not just me that was speaking because God carried me through!
Later, God opened up the opportunity to say something else to him. Both times he made excuses to leave and seems very hardened, but I rejoice knowing that God allowed me to be His witness! Please pray that God would bring back to his mind the truth that was shared with him and he would get saved!I think my favorite interaction of the evening was when I gave someone my only curved illusion tract. I was praying that God would show me who to give it to: then I noticed a young teenage girl and knew that she was the right person! As I approached her, I realized that it was a whole group of friends, so I said, “Whoever gives the right answer gets to keep these!” I held up the tract which is two curved cards that give an illusion that one is bigger than the other. I asked, “Which one’s bigger?” They pointed at one, then I swapped them around and asked again. They were shocked and pointed at the other one. I gave the tract to the girl that I had first seen and explained that it was an illusion and that both cards were actually the same size. I also had some animal cards with me that share the Gospel through showing how God has specially designed each creature, so I let each of them pick one. As I was getting ready to leave, the first girl said in a very genuine tone, “Thank you so much!” That really made my day, especially knowing that God had showed me the specific person to give it to!
~Anna
Before we left for the fair, God gave me these verses from Psalms 25 to meditate on:
¹⁰ “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. …¹² What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.¹³ His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.¹⁴ The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.¹⁵ Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. …²⁰ O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.”There were so many good interactions that God gave me, and answers to specific prayers!
My favorite interaction from the evening was when a mom I talked to said she did not want one, but her little boy in the stroller reached for my stack of millions, and when I asked, she said he would probably tear it up, but I could give him one. (Out of the mouth of babes!) I asked what his name was, and she said Eli, which gave an immediate connection point—I told her that we have an Elijah, and she said that Elijah is his full name. Then I had an idea: I know what the name Elijah means—it is one of the reasons my parents picked it—so I asked him “Do you know what your name means? It means The Lord is God! God made you!” What a great opportunity to connect truth in a way that will hopefully stick with them all their life!
Later, I was almost out of the English tracts that I had, but I had several Spanish tracts, so I prayed that God would bring people to receive the Spanish ones. Right as I finished praying, a Hispanic family came around the corner, and were happy to receive them! A number of other Hispanic parties came by that I was able to hand Spanish tracts to. At one point, an older man came by holding an English tract already, but he looked Hispanic, so I asked “¿Español?” as I held out a Spanish million dollar bill. He took it with a smile and replied “¡Muchos gracias!”
As we walked into a building, a small boy’s balloon popped suddenly. As his mom started to sympathize, I pulled out a 250th million dollar bill and said “I have a gift for you!” The boy was shy and did not want to take it, but his mom was very grateful.
At the end of the night, as we were making our way to the parking lot, I asked God to provide people for the remaining 4 tracts I had left over—which were all Spanish. I saw a Hispanic mother and her young son round the corner ahead at a food truck, so I approached them, and told them I had a gift for them, and handed her two of the tracts. Now I just had two Spanish children’s tracts left, and prayed that I could use them too. Standing out by one of the kids rides, were two Spanish ladies with their kids: one had two boys, and the other, a girl. Since I only had 2 tracts on me, and there were 3 children, I wondered what I should do; I decided to give one to each of the moms for their children, but as I handed the mom of two the first one, the other mom and her little girl left, so I was free to give one to each of the brothers, without leaving anyone out!
The verse above that says “His soul shall dwell at ease;” was a perfect description of the evening, because the whole time, I did not have any nervousness or fear! It was just like last week’s post—God’s perfect love had so filled all the space in my heart that there simply was no room for any of Satan’s fiery darts of fear to even get in! Praise the Lord!!
~Charity