Keeping Cool

Have you ever experienced heat that made you want to melt?  In my area we had temperatures well over 100 in past weeks and it was miserable.  We're just not use to temps that high in the north.  And its even more difficult to endure without any air conditioner.  Fans really only blow the warm air around.  

It was so hot that the city was opening "cooling stations" for folks without ACs to find some relief.  And the there was concern for the elderly and the sick.  

Well, I have a weekly Bible study with a dear friend of mine.  She is a new believer and relatively young in her faith.  I have had the privilege of discipline her and the experience has been a blessing to both of us.  One week when I visited her small apartment it was terribly hot.  I had returned only a week before from the mission to Spain and was still getting over a bad cold.

She had a fan that would blow air but it made my congestion worse and we had to cut the meeting short that night.  Even her poor kitties were exhausted.  My friend had been sharing several needs, one of them being financial, and I was still thinking about our meeting on the way home.  That night I asked God to show me how I could best help my friend in a practical way.  And I was thinking on the lines of finances but suddenly the thought came to me that her most immediate need was already experienced that night.  She and her pets needed relief from the heat.

So I began searching everywhere for a used AC in good condition. I couldn't afford the price of a new one.  But after a week of searching and spreading the word there was still nothing available.  The moment I found one someone else had already bought it.  It seemed that everyone was searching for ACs and I became discouraged.

I thought this was a way I could help but so far I just kept striking out.  So I began formulating a plan.  I would ask all my friends to donate ten or fifteen dollars towards the purchase of a new AC and I would pay the difference.  But then I felt God urging me to wait just a bit more.  Perhaps He wanted others to be more directly involved in helping me find a solution. I was just wanting to do it all on my own and that's not how God works.

The next day a friend contacted me and said he found a used AC in great condition and even negotiated with the seller for a fair price.  I was ecstatic. And what a joy it was to finally bring that AC to my Bible Study friend! 

The experience strengthened my faith in God and showed me that its always better to trust Him and wait on His timing.  And the gift greatly encouraged my friend.  We had studied the book of Acts and how the early church helped each other with needs.  So it was an awesome example of how God still works through His children to bless others.

How can you help someone you know this week?  Ask God to show you what you can do to be part of a solution to someone else's need.  The blessings are so worth the effort!  God bless!

" And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,"

Hebrews 10: 24