Hayley Wilson: Hayley Wilson has a huge passion for serving the Lord through helping women of all generations and backgrounds grow in their faith and maintain a strong relationship rooted in Christ. She currently serves as the administrator for the SBCV Women’s Ministry Blog and is on the SBCV Women’s Ministry Strategy Team. Hayley is also on staff at London Bridge Baptist Church as a ministry assistant and serves on LBBC’s Women’s Ministry Team.
A few months ago, I was coming home from work when I got a flat tire on the highway. It took me several moments to realize that the obnoxious sound I heard was coming from my car, and it took me several more moments to realize what it was. I quickly pulled off at the next exit and pulled into a parking lot to figure out what my next step needed to be.
I was on the phone with my parents, completely worked up. I was just not having it. This was a complete inconvenience, to say the least. I mean, is there ever actually a convenient time to get a flat tire?
But as is characteristic of the Lord, He had a plan in place. He knew I had a need, and He had placed a gentleman at a gas station right across from the parking lot who just so happened to know how to change a flat tire. This gentleman graciously drove over to where I was and offered to remove the old, busted tire and replace it with my spare.
He was an answer to prayer. Before I had even woken up, the Lord knew I was going to get a flat tire. When I prayed that morning for the Lord to provide for and protect me, He already knew how He was going to answer my prayer. And before that man woke up, the Lord knew he would be at a gas station at the right moment to help someone that day.
This was also around the same time that my Bible study group was going through the book of Ruth. One of the discussion topics was about how Boaz was the answer to Naomi’s prayers for her and Ruth after all they had been through. Boaz was a family redeemer and could provide for them. He chose to be used by God, and he accepted that responsibility. He bought everything from Naomi that had belonged to her husband and sons. He then married Ruth, and they had a son.
“Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Praise the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age, indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’” Ruth 4:14-17
Boaz was an answered prayer for Ruth and Naomi. God saw their need and sent someone to fulfill it.
Prayer is such a powerful thing. God answers prayer, and He sometimes uses people, even people like you and me and a random man at a gas station, to answer the prayers of His children. My question to you is, will you set aside whatever may be going on in any particular moment to be the answer to someone’s prayer when God calls upon you?
The gentleman who helped me could have easily needed to be somewhere else. He could have ignored my need. He had no idea who I was, but he did it anyway. And it got me to thinking, would I have done the same? My encouragement to you is this; don’t let anything stand in your way of being used by the Lord. Be the answer to someone’s prayer in the ways God calls you to be.