A week ago, I received an unexpected appointment request via Microsoft Outlook Calendar from my friend. The appointment subject line read “Belated Birthday Lunch (Your Choice)”, and it specified the date and time (noon) she wanted to meet, but left out the location because she was going to let me decide where we would go. Of course I was excited and quickly accepted her invitation, as I love to eat and chat. The morning of our lunch date, I was thinking about where I wanted to go, and it hit me, Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Around 11:15a or so, I told her where I wanted to go, and she too got excited as she hadn’t been to Roscoe’s in a while either. Once we settled on the restaurant, we both decided that we should leave earlier than originally planned because Roscoe’s gets really busy during lunch hour, and we were both pressed for time. We agreed to leave around 11:30am. I Googled the directions and was ready to go, but then I got caught up reading a “quick” email. She got caught up on a “quick” phone call or something, and by the time we both were ready 30-minutes had gone by. Due to our time constraint, we both decided Roscoe’s was a no go. So after bouncing off restaurant choices, we chose Applebee’s because it was close by.
In the car on our way to Applebee’s, we both complained about the amount of traffic. Normally a commute to Applebee’s would be about seven minutes or so, but for some reason the main street had lots of traffic and it took double the time. We are now behind schedule of about 20 minutes, but finally made it to Applebee’s and were seated. We began chatting for a while and realized that about 10 minutes had passed and no waiter/waitress came to see about us. I jokingly said “we should have just gone to Roscoe’s”.
Although we were pressed for time, and nothing was going as we planned, we were enjoying each other’s company and the food was delicious. Neither of us finished our food so we asked for to-go boxes, my friend paid the bill and got up to leave. As we were leaving the restaurant a man came through the doors. He began walking closer to me and asked me if he could have my box. I didn’t really understand what he meant so I asked him to repeat himself. Again he asked me if he could have my box. I was still a little puzzled as to what he was saying, but I realized that he was referring to the to-go box in my hand. I asked him if he was joking, but he said with a straight, emotionless face, “No”. It then clicked, this man was possibly homeless, although he didn’t look like your typical homeless person. So I gave him my left-over to-go box. He then turned to my friend and asked her for her to-go box. She gave him hers as well. As we were exiting out of the restaurant doors, I heard the man’s voice and glanced back. He was speaking with a waitress and asked her for a bag so he could put his to-go boxes in it.
The restaurant man reminded me of several things:
(1) God’s blessings- The fact that I have the daily necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing, is in itself a blessing. God even blesses me with some of my desires/wants. I am indeed blessed.
(2) God’s timing- Although I scheduled the lunch date with my friend a week prior, it was already on God’s calendar. Our change of restaurants, the delays in traffic, delays in being served, was part of the plan for me to meet the restaurant man. It was a divine appointment, the time and place was chosen before I knew about it.
(3) God’s provision- I was walking out of the restaurant unaware that God would use my left-over food to meet the needs of the restaurant man. Likewise, the restaurant man walked into the restaurant, unaware that God would allow him to meet a person that would provide him with the food he needed. We both left the restaurant fed and provided for.
Amazingly, God has used the restaurant man as encouragement and a reminder to me of God’s faithfulness, His grace, His mercy, His goodness and His sovereignty. God’s ways are not our ways. He can use anyone and anything (like my left-overs) to meet our needs. We can stand firm on His Word, for His Word is true. Trust Him!!
“But, my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” ~ Philippians 4:19
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “ ~ Matthew 6:25
“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” ~ Matthew 6:26
Your Sister in Christ,
Kesha Griffin