God bought me coffee

Yesterday God bought me coffee.

It's okay, you can laugh. I did.

Lately God's been reminding me that He is an active and living God who speaks.
And that He desires to speak to me daily. That's part of abiding with Him - hearing from Him.

This past week He's been giving me some practice (I need it!).
I would share my stories but that would make this post quite lengthy.
Just trust me when I say He's has asked me do some "silly" things and showed up in crazy ways when I listen and obey His voice.

So yesterday I am walking to the Dining Hall and I sense the Holy Spirit nudging me to go to Johnny's, our cafe on campus. Now, I don't have much money on my account and so this seems like a silly thing to do. But both experiences earlier in the week where God asked me to do "silly" things involved bypassing the Dining Hall. So I obey - kinda. I assume God must want me to go to the other Dining Hall, not Johnny's (that would be silly). But when I get to the other Dining Hall I realize it is closed on Friday nights. So I remember God's nudge to go to Johnny's and even though I am confused I decide to make my way over. When I get to Johnny's I recognize the girl working the cash register (she was in a class of mine) and I instantly assume (*ding ding! me thinking here, not God speaking) that God must want me to buy something for this cashier. So I go up to her and ask her how much is left on my card. Two dollars and some cents. I tell her I'd like to buy her something. She refuses. She tells me to buy a Frappachino or something. I insist on buying her one. I go to what I think is the Frappachino machine (which really is the cappachino machine) and she says, "no, no -- a Frappachino, Trudy". She leads me to the fridge where there are some chilled Starbucks Frappachinos. When I tell her I've never had one she insists I buy one for myself. Begrudginly I agree. Turns out it's a little more than she thought I had on my card - but after she rung me up I still had 6 cents left over. Hmmm... we serve a God of abundance! So I walk to the dining hall wondering who I should give this frappachino too. God wouldn't have made me walk over to Johnny's to buy me a frappachino. Or would he? I tried offering the frappachino to two people - they both declined. This is when I finally realized it.

God bought me coffee.

Me.

He wanted to bless me.

I don't know if you're anything like me, but I have a hard time recieving.
I'd rather work for it. Do something. I have a hard time grasping that God would want to give me anything.

But that's the gospel - the good news.
That "while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
As one of my new favorite songs puts it,
God says to us:

"I will love you for you,
Not for what you have done,
or what you will become.
I will love you for you,
I will give you love,
the love that you never knew."

- "What Love Really Mean" by JJ Heller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgGUKWiw7Wk

So next time God buys you coffee, or reveals His deep love for you - receive it & enjoy it.

He loves you simply because you are his child & He delights in You (Zephaniah 3:17)