| Iseminger | Family |
| Minis | tries |
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“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2
I was just thinking about this experience this morning and thought that it might provide one or two folks with a needed post holiday chuckle. If your mind is like mine (and I hope for your sake it is not) you can often conger things up in your mind and convince yourself something is so when the reality is nothing could be further from the truth. Such is the case with this brief encounter that occurred shortly after we entered into the 21st century.
We were in the middle of a church planting effort in the northern Midwest and I had developed a pretty normal routine. Our ministry seems to operate in two different ways, we are either traveling church to church, a day or a few days or a week at a time, with a different schedule and demands on our time at every stop, never knowing what to expect before we roll into town. Or we are in one place for a prolonged period of time (months if not years) and we develop some sort of routine that works for the present time. Both of the two situations have their pros and cons and we enjoy moving from one realm to the other as often as the Lord sees fit.
Anyway, I was settled into a routine and God was blessing our efforts. We were fortunate to live in an apartment complex about a mile from the church. In between the church and our apartment was a 7-11 store and gas station. It was not uncommon for me to stop there either going or coming, for gas or a pop, death dog or candy bar, or on a good day all of the above. One particular day I was on my way home and I need gas in the car so I pulled into the 7-11. As I got out of the car I noticed an older lady standing at a pump next to me who clearly had no idea how the gas was supposed to get from the pump into her car so I asked her if she needed some help. She when on to explain that her daughter usually was with her, but she was sick and in all of her 80 some odd years she had never pumped gas before. I told her that I would be happy to pump the gas for her and began to get it started. While I was pumping her gas she was trying to pay me for helping her which I refused. When I finished and closed her gas tank, she said “Are you sure I can’t give you something for your trouble?” I again refused and explain that I was happy to help her and it was no trouble at all. She then laid her hand on my forearm, looked me in the eye and said “Son, God will bless you for helping me” . I don’t know if a wind kicked up or if the temperature dropped quickly but when she said what she did the chill bumps stood up on the back of my neck and I shivered a little bit. I went to pump my own gas and while I was pumping God reminded me of the above Scripture which I had been recently been studying. In the time it took to fill the Buick with gas I convinced myself that I had just entertained an angel. I couldn’t wait to finish so I could get home and tell my wife what had happened.
As I was walking to pay for my gas, I was still pretty jazzed up, pondering the previous exchange and wondering exactly how God was going to bless me for passing the test and helping someone without personal gain. Life was good, but I was about to be reminded that things are not always what they seem and perception is not always reality. As I walked in the door, there stood my angel at the counter paying for her gas along with a load of cigarettes and a stack of lottery tickets.
Lesson Learned: Things are not always what you convince yourself they are.