The Mysterious Attentiveness of God

I was at the Dallas airport, riding the Skylink headed to another terminal, when I took a phone call from my sister.  I didn’t have her on speaker, and I was trying to keep my voice down, because no one enjoys loud one-sided conversations, but I sensed I was bothering the older woman seated directly across from me. I thought I knew why. The nature of the phone call led to Bible references and repeated mentions of Jesus. After several attempts to smile and nod at the other traveler, that were all met with a blank stare, I decided she wasn’t enjoying the forced church service. I was wrong. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

When the Skylink stopped at our terminal, the older woman disembarked with me and a couple dozen of our fellow travelers. She struggled to manhandle her large rolling suitcase out of the Skylink, but she managed. I followed, turned right, and made my way towards the down escalator some thirty feet away. I was about to step on the moving steps when I heard “Go back and help that woman.” It was a full-on sentence in my head, and it was loud! I turned back and saw the woman standing exactly where she had disembarked.

I began moving towards her, conscious that she may not want my help. I spoke up as I neared. “Ma’am, can I help you figure out where you need to go?”

Her expression was as hard as it had been on the train.

“I know where I’m going.” She said bluntly.

By now, we were face to face, and it was awkward times two. “That didn’t come out right,” I said. “I’m sorry if I sounded offensive. What I meant to say was is there anything I can do to help you?”

Her defenses fell and her face softened along with her voice. “Well,” she said. “I am nervous about trying to get on that escalator with this suitcase without falling.”

You can guess how the story ends. We traversed the escalator together with me managing her suitcase and my new friend gripping the handrail. I’ll skip to my reason for sharing it. The elder traveler wasn’t angry with me on the Skylink. She was worried and distracted. Lesson learned, again. My judgement can be so faulty.

But here’s the takeaway that has stayed with me. The one I hope will cause you, dear reader, to consider the unexplainable attentiveness of our God who would look at a great big world and a mass of hurrying scurrying humanity, and see one older woman standing in one city, worried about tumbling down an escalator.

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:4

The same God who saw her, sees you. Reach for Him. He is reaching for you.

Hugs,

Shellie

P.S. My next book will be releasing Jan.28^th, 2020! My publisher and I want to give you the first chapter of Finding Deep and Wide —free! That’s right! Free! Download here. 😊 It’s a thank you to my subscribers!

The book is already available to preorder on Amazon, but if you run over there and get it, send me a copy of your receipt to findingdeepandwide@yahoo.com. I haven’t circulated the details yet, but I’m planning a really cool giveaway and everyone who preorders gets their name in it. And get this, I’ll put your name in it for every book you order. More books, more chances. Details to come~

And speaking of cool deals, if you click the ministry partners tab underneath “Speaking”, you’ll see the opportunity we’ve built for church groups. I’m already scheduling these Deep and Wide Evenings with Shellie and I’d love to open that conversation with your fellowship or study group.