Hebrews 13: 20-21

Time and time again, we've seen God provide for us in perfect & surprising ways. He's done a lot and provided a lot, but there are certain things that have shown us that He really does know the little details of our lives.

Like papers that need to be done that we don't know about or the number of dollars in our bank account.

And He cares about those details.

I went to a women's conference once where one of the speakers kept referring to people God puts in our lives who help and support and pray and serve. "Jesus with skin on" she called them. I liked the idea, but I thought "Jesus with skin on" sounded kind of weird.

Now I get it.

Turns out, there are a lot of skin-wearing people who appear at just the right time to do just the right thing with an attitude and a heart of love, service, and compassion.

Jesus with skin on.

Here's the crazy thing....as amazing as those people are, they're not the ones who deserve the credit. Because, as we've been seeing lately, oftentimes they themselves don't even know the whole story. They don't know how their actions fit into God's plan. They don't know how their obedience will impact the other person. They don't need to know. But God moves them to act, and they act.

Like the day almost two years ago when I walked into a church event with a smile on my face and complete turmoil in my mind.

Is God really calling us to adopt this child?

How in the world are we supposed to pay for an international adoption?

But he is so much older than the girls....

And he doesn't speak English....

And this isn't what we had in mind...

I dropped off the food I had brought and was walking out, wishing that someone would ask me a question so I could spill my guts. No one did. I walked out the door and headed for my car, passing a group of people who were talking in the courtyard.

"Bye Kristy"

"See ya later"

"Yeah, I'll see you on Sunday"

I kept walking, feeling that my-mind-is-spinning-in-so-many-circles-I-think-I-might-fall-over feeling. And then, out of nowhere, one of the women who had been standing in that group in the parking lot, who had already said "Hi" and "Goodbye" to me, called my name.

"I just needed to ask you...how can I pray for you?"

Jesus with skin on.

And then, just last week, when I got a phone call from our friend who had identified a potential issue that could cause a delay when we finally get to the end of the adoption process.

The same night we were sleeping soundly because the adoption decree was finally complete, he woke up in the middle of the night. Thinking about possible issues that might arise. And something came to mind. So he called us.

We started writing emails and investigating, and sure enough, there are more papers that will need to be done. Without them, we would have gotten to the very last step of this process and then had a problem.

Jesus with skin on.

And a few Sundays ago, after church, when the church treasurer handed Jeremy an envelope.

A few people knew that we had run into an issue with an attorney who was asking us for more money. We had just, just, paid our other attorney $3,000 for the work he'd been doing for the past year and a half, and our saving's account was about empty.

But nobody new that the solution to our problem was to hire a new attorney.

Or that the new attorney was going to charge us $500.

Or that our savings account had $326 in it.

Nobody knew that.

And the envelope?

A check.

From someone at our church.

For $200.

Jesus with skin on.

When I first heard that speaker at the women's conference referring to people that way, I was a little uncomfortable with the idea of referring to other people as "Jesus." Now I understand.

It's not the person.

It's Jesus.

He's the one who tells the lady who's in the middle of another conversation, "Go pray for her."

He's the one who wakes someone up in the night to pray and whispers, "What about that paper?"

He's the one who moves the heart to write a check and gently prompts, "$200 will be just right."

He's the one who so graciously inhabits the skin of people who let Him and then moves them to do His work.

So my question for you today is this:

Is God prompting you to do something?

If He is, listen.

He knows needs we can't begin to guess, and if He's asking something of you, He's got a reason.

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.