Simple Words

Last Sunday I preached about overcoming obstacles.  I had a member of the congregation come up and give his testimonial on how he overcame obstacles toward the end of the sermon.  It was very moving to say the least.  During his sharing I felt the Holy Spirit give me words to encourage the congregation to create their own testimonial too.  As he finished I went up to the podium to ask, "And you, what story do you have to share about what Christ has done in your life?"  I wasn't able to even get the 3rd word in that question before I was interrupted by a twenty something year old girl.  She wanted to share and I invited her up.  She began to tell a story of a nightmare she had about her kids falling from a tall building to their death.  She sobbed the whole way through.  I have to be honest that there was part of me that was wishing that I had gone right into prayer and closed the service.  It was very uncomfortable!  The Holy Spirit kept telling me though that I did the right thing.  During the middle of her sharing a lay leader came up and put his arm around her as she continued weeping and recounting the nightmare.  As she finished he gave her a hug, turned around to the congregation and began to preach that this is a lie and lies only come from one source - the enemy.  He shared the hope of salvation and she accepted right there.  She was so warmly received by the members of the church afterward.  I simply stood in amazement at what God had done that day.  I was grateful that I didn't follow through with my plans, but that the the Lord interrupted with his.