STRANGER OR ANGEL?

Strangers.

We all encounter them.

Everywhere, everyday. In the grocery store. In line at the bank. The table next to us at a restaurant. But have you ever met someone where the meeting was such that it left you wondering?

Hebrews 13:2 says " Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers(being friendly, cordial,and gracious) for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it."

This is one such story of a meeting that forever changed my life. From the moment that I met this stranger and what took place I have never been the same.

It was early evening and I had just put away the dish's and put the kids to bed. I ran just up the street to a local mall to exchange a pair or shoes. As I entered the store I sensed that something was different. I could feel the emptiness around me. I saw no one and heard no sounds. I took the escalator to the top floor.

Still I saw no one.

I passed through the cosmetics, down the isle with the jewelry and over into the shoe department.

Still no one.

I stood at the register with my little shoe box and waited. Suddenly there was a lady standing in front of me on the other side of the counter. I did not see her come up. She began to engage me in conversation and explained that the sales lady was in the back getting a pair of shoes for her and would return momentarily. She continued to talk with me and at one point she reached across the counter and placed her hand on mine and when she did it was as if she knew all about me. She knew with out my telling her a thing that I was in a hurting marriage and she told me things about myself that I was not sure how she knew.

She talked and I listened, she certainly had my attention.

As she talked the sales lady came and took care of my return. When we were both finished in the shoe department this stranger asked me if I would like to get a cup of coffee.

I could not say no.

I wanted to know how she knew about me; I wanted to hear what she had to say to me. Her countenance was sweet and gentle. She was kind and her words were some how soothing to my hurting heart. As we sat with our coffee and talked I began to open up and share with her. I shared with her how she was correct in that my marriage was falling apart and went on to share with her how I had been searching for the Lord.

I grew up in the church and had accepted the Lord but there was something missing and I would not rest until I found out what it was. I had been crying out to the Lord to show me, to help me. At this point the stranger asked me if I would like to go outside and she would pray for me. I walked outside the mall and there on the curb in the parking lot out side of J.C. Penny she prayed for me. If you knew me at all , you would know that what I did next was so out of character.

When she finished praying , without thinking I turned to her and said "well that just did me no good at all."

WOW..did that really just come out of my mouth. I had been on a desperate search and this encounter was so out of the ordinary that my hopes were high, I was truly expecting God to show up and fix me. Well, I no sooner got the words out of my mouth then the woman slapped her hands on my back and said out loud in a very powerful voice "satan, if this woman chooses to serve God, let her go in the name of Jesus." I felt it, there it was, there was no denying it. I felt the power , and it felt like something was lifted off of my body. I looked at her with tears in my eyes and asked her if she was an angel. I had never been around anything like this before. She just smiled and led me back into the mall to a little bookstore. She began to pull down different bible translations and she would open each one to Hebrews 1:14 and hand it to me and there I read:

"Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service of God for the assistance of those who are to inherit salvation."

She pulled down a number of different bible translations and each time she took one away to give me another I felt such a strong pull to read the rest of the book of Hebrews. After a few minutes she turned to leave. I asked her name and she replied "Charlsie" and told me that she attended a local church in the area, but as she turned to go I looked to see if her feet really touched the ground.

When I returned home from the mall I was different.

There was no denying it.

There was no hiding it.

I looked different, I behaved different, I felt different.

And those around me saw it.

The first to notice was my husband. We had been at odds for some time. At this point there had not been much love left between us. Well all that changed when I lifted my head in that parking lot. Suddenly I was filled with love for my husband. But not like any love I had ever known. It was a godly love, a love for his soul. And it was evident when I walked in my home that night.
That night as he slept I crept out of bed and down to the den. I pulled out the bible that I had had since I was a teenager and I did business with God. I read the entire book of Hebrews three times.

One phrase seemed to keep repeating to me:

"Today, if you hear my voice, listen, do not harden your heart."

At that moment I told the Lord: "Lord I will go anywhere, say anything, do anything, I'm yours!"

Suddenly I realized what had been missing, before I had all of God, for He promised to save those who called on Him, but now for the first time He had all of me, I was holding nothing back, total surrender.

That night as I prayed I included in my prayer that I would like a new bible. After reading all the new translations at the mall I prayed to have one. The one I had was old and worn, we didn't have much money so I prayed I would find one on sale. The next day I went to a christian book store and what happened there was almost as powerful as what had happened the night before.
I walked in and saw a sign that said all bibles 25% off. I walked up to the counter and told the sales lady that I was interested in a new bible. With out my saying another word she reached up and pulled down a bible and opened it to the exact bible verse that the stranger from the night before had opened to Hebrews 1:14 and she pointed to the verse and with tears streaming down her face she said "God did for me what He did for you, He gave me a second chance." Then she placed her hand on mine and there are no words to describe what I felt.

If you took all the words in the English language for thrilling it would pale in comparison to what I felt. I did not want to let go. It was beyond anything in this world I had ever felt.

Such unexpressible feelings of elation. Needless to say I left there that day with that bible.
When I drove up to my house and got out of my car, my neighbor came over and walked up to me and said "Whats happened to you, your glowing." Just then his father pulled up and as he stepped out of the car he said the same works, "whats happened to you, your glowing." . It could not be contained. We talked for a while and I shared with them some of what had happened. I was truly changed. I wanted to tell everyone about Jesus.

The next day I was standing in a long line at a little hot dog stand. While standing there a little old gentleman working there, came out from behind the counter and passed all the people standing in line and walked right up to me and said very sweetly "Honey I see your spirit all over you." He indicated this was something he was able to see with his natural eye. This would not be the last time a stranger would say those words to me, but I will save those stories for another day.

Jesus tells us to be a light in a dark world. The world is getting darker , my prayer is that I'll shine brighter.

Night all.