Some stories are worth sharing. This is from an email sent to staff of The Navigators, the organization with which I serve. Jill Marion, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area was writing about an experience in a coffee shop she and her dad frequented for several years. Jill shares:

I was buying coffee from a barista we’ve seen consistently for years. I usually chitchat a bit, but I don’t take the time to stop and go deep. That particular morning she had braces on both of her wrists. I paused and thought, Do I get my coffee and say a few nice words? Or do I ask her what’s wrong? I looked at her hands, and suddenly I just felt so much concern for this barista. I thought, “That must be the Holy Spirit, because I know I just want to get this coffee and get to work.”

So, I asked. She responded, “Oh yeah, I have really bad carpal tunnel syndrome. It hurts so bad I can’t sleep at night.” Now, I had two options: Do I get my coffee, say, “I’m sorry,” and keep it moving? Or do I ask if my dad and I can pray for her? I could feel the concern welling up inside me — the Holy Spirit stirring in me. Jesus cares about her carpal tunnel. Jesus would pray.

So, I said, “You should let my dad pray for you. I’ll pray too, but when he prays, sometimes people get healed. What do you have to lose?” We stopped our morning, and dad held her wrists and prayed for her. She said, “Oh my gosh, my left wrist feels twenty times better, this is unbelievable!” The next day, as I was buying coffee, she excitedly told me, “My wrist is healed!” She had been telling all the baristas about it, and everyone was amazed. One of the baristas asked if she could sit down and have coffee with us, rather than serve us, so she could ask us questions about faith.

God is alive and well, and he’s still at work.

In another part of the same article Marion made this observation after an unexpected conversation with another customer in that coffee shop:

I can’t tell who is a seeker. I have to be the seeker and trust the Holy Spirit to lead.

Jesus told the disciples as he was preparing to heal the man born blind:

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9.4, 5, ESV)

Similarly, Jesus told the disciples in John 4, while they were in Samaria:

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (John 4.34, ESV)

God has work to do, and he has given us the privilege of working with him. Let’s keep our eyes open.

Jesus saw a man… (John 9.1)