“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:15, KJV)
We needed a shelf for my husband’s workspace. We went to Home Goods to check out what may have come in after the holidays.
As we were walking down one of the aisles in the store, a lady, who seemed to be Hispanic, looked at us and asked if we needed any help. This was unusal because at this store employees do not personally attend to the customers. We told her that we were okay and thanked her.
As we walked down the aisle, she stayed on my mind for a couple of minutes.
When we walked by the furniture area, we spotted a shelf that might be what we could use.
But we needed to get it out from between the other furniture. Just as we were talking about this, an African-American man happened to come by and ask if we needed help. We were so surprised. Again, another employee attending to us. And, he happened to walk by right at the time when we needed assistance.
We told him that we were interested in purchasing the shelf, but we wanted to take a good look at it. He and my husband moved it out into a small area. As they were moving it, I noticed that it did not sit steadily. My husband and the man turned it upside down. There was a small, round piece missing on one of the legs. But it was a piece that one could find at a Home Depot.
We decided to take the shelf, but I kept wondering if it was the right one for that workspace. My husband suggested we try it and said that if it did not work, we could return it.
As we approached the cashier area, I was still in doubt. When I looked at the cashier, I noticed that she was the same woman who had asked us earlier if we needed help.
While I was taking care of two small items that I had to return, I asked the Lord if this was the shelf that He wanted us to have. Then I asked my husband if he thought it would work for him. He asked me if it was pretty enough for me. We kept going back and forth with this: “Will it work for you?” “Is it pretty enough for you?”
I looked at the man who had helped to bring the shelf to the front. He was waiting patiently for our decision. I asked him, “Are you married?”
He smiled and said, “No.”
I said, “Well, when you get married, this is what happens.” He started laughing. We laughed with him.
My husband told him, “We both want to please each other, which is good.” The man laughed and smiled.
Meanwhile, the cashier was still working on the two return items. I looked at her and thanked her. The next thing I know I said, “Do you know Jesus as your Saviour?”
“I am Catholic,” she said.
“Well, have you asked Jesus to be the Saviour of your soul?” I asked.
“No, I have not,” she answered.
“We’re going to pray right now so that you ask Him,” I told her. I started praying, and she started praying after me. She believed in Jesus, confessed her sin, and gave her life to Jesus. She started crying and thanking me. We talked about reading the Bible.
My husband looked at her nametag and said, “Your name is Sarah.”
“That’s a very important name. It is in the Bible,” I said.
“Since I have been in this country, I have helped so many people. You have no idea. I want to thank you so much for coming to the store today. This is so special. Thank you,” she explained, as she placed her hands on her heart and thanked me again.
Because of my doubt about the shelf, I told my husband I wanted to wait for a better one. He told the man, who was still waiting for us, that we had decided not to take it. He helped the man take the shelf back to where it was before.
My husband went outside, while I waited for the returns transaction to finish. I took the receipt and started walking out. On the way out, I saw the man who had helped us standing by the exit door. I asked him, “Do you know Jesus as your Saviour?”
He said, “My grandmother always tells me about this.”
“Have you asked him to be your Saviour?” I asked.
He looked up and thought for a moment. “I don’t think so.”
“Okay, let’s pray right now and get this settled,” I said.
“Okay,” he said. We started praying, and he believed in Jesus, asked forgiveness for his sins at the cross, and gave his life to Him. He smiled, shook my hand, and with a big smile thanked me.
I asked him if he had I Bible. He said that he did. I told him where and how to start reading. He said that he would.
I met my husband outside. I told him that the woman and the man both prayed and believed in Jesus as their Saviour. I was rejoicing! Rejoicing with me, he said, “Two souls in two minutes!”
“Abba, Father, these were very surprising salvations. Jesus, I couldn’t have gotten away from this woman and man even if I had wanted too. I was not even thinking about talking about You. But there they were. And in two minutes, one right after the other, the Holy Spirit had them right in front of me. And how was it that you opened my mouth to ask them about salvation in You, Jesus? And how ready they were! You, Lord, are about souls every minute!”