When God uses the unexpected

I left my ear buds at home today when I went for my morning walk.

I didn’t mean to.  I actually had planned to bring them and continue listening to the podcasts I’ve been catching up on.  But as I dug into my pocket they weren’t there.

That’s when the phone rang.  And I spent half of my walk talking with a lady from church planning on how I can help with the ministry training on Saturday.  I’m going to be teaching the other volunteers on running a small group and how to keep kids involved.  I have enough ideas for 5 hours of material, but I’m maybe presenting for an hour?  I have some cutting to do.

But then I hung up and was faced with silence.

I don’t do silence.  I do movement, and noise, and going.

But God does.  God uses silence.  He talks to us in silence, and today I heard pray.

So I did.  I prayed for the kid who was bit by a spider and had surgery.  I prayed for the upcoming training and what God would have me say.  I prayed for the kids in my Sunday School class.  I prayed for my kids and how I can help lead them in family discipleship.  I prayed for our country and the leaders who make big decisions.  I prayed for other countries where it’s scary to be a Christian.

I also got distracted.  I’ll admit it.  I started working on to-do lists.  I started writing imaginary answers to questions.

But, God kept pulling me back.  I won’t take a bit of credit for it, because I’m way too ADD to concentrate.  But, walking helps me focus on things like this.  It’s why I walk when I talk on the phone.  If I’m standing still I start doing stuff, and get distracted and suddenly I realize I wasn’t paying attention.

Thankfully God uses me just as I am, and he can take my weaknesses and turn them into strengths.  Sometimes God uses the unexpected events the best.

So, how can God use the unexpected in your life today?