As a part of crafting our legacy, we need to share our stories with others. These stories can be events that happen over time, or like this one, a story of a short God-ordained few minutes in the midst of a routine day.
For me, strangers are a big part of my legacy. As I have been reviewing my journals and working on writing more, it is so clear that strangers have played a larger part in my life and legacy than I had given them credit.
A stranger is defined as a person whom one does not know or with whom one is not familiar. The Latin root word for stranger is extraneous which means irrelevant or unrelated to the subject, person or situation.
Most strangers are exactly as defined, but then there are those that started out strangers but quickly became part of our story or legacy.
In the midst of my travels, I meet a stranger.
I had a flight for Pittsburgh and I love to get to the gate early so I can relax and read before facing the lottery of who will I be up close and personal with for about 90 minutes on the plane. As I scanned the gate for a seat, I picked one next to a young businesswoman with her head down working on her laptop.
This seat will be great, she is busy so I will not need to converse, I can read and sip on my treat of a latte and muffin. As I sit down she does not even look up at me and that was ok with me.
As I was reading I kept looking at the women; oh I know this feeling. It has happened to me before. The Lord was about to change this stranger into part of my legacy of being His.
From time to time the Lord will speak to me about someone for one of two reasons. He tells me so I can pray silently for the person, or He tells me so I can tell the person what God would like them to know. No, I am not a Prophet of the Lord, but He has used me prophetically from time to time.
Today He wanted me to tell this busy businesswoman what I heard. So after pausing for a few minutes to be sure, I turned toward her and said, “Hi, how are you today?” Never looking up, she responded, “I am good thanks.” Pausing for a few more minutes, yet feeling like I would burst if I didn’t tell her what He wanted her to know, I spoke again, “I am Jane, and I am sorry to bother you, but I have something to tell from the Lord.”
She turned to look at me, closed her laptop and for a minute I thought she was going to get up and run. But she did not. She softly said, “The Lord told you something about me?” I answered, “Yes, may I share it with you?” She slightly smiled and said, “Yes!”
I shared what He told me to tell her and as I was coming to the end, her eyes filled with tears and she grabbed my hand. She said, ” I was just in the car this morning outside the airport and I told the Lord that if He did not give me direction, I did not know what I would do.”
She had been struggling with a life decision and wanted to be sure which way God wanted to go. That day, He answered her deep cry of direction.
We did not become friends, in fact, I never saw her again, but for both of us, God took two strangers that knew Him and trusted Him and crafted our lives into each other’s legacy.
Legacy Lesson Learned: We need to be ok with God using strangers unforgettably impacting our lifes and legacy as He wills.
Thank you! God is good!
Thank you for sharing this! You were once a stranger in my life who had to drop her Bible and tambourine to give me a word from the Lord. I have never been the same.
Johanna, Thank you for again being an encouragement to my life. Blessed you remember our times of divine encounters in Christ. Miss you, your smile and your lovely voice.