Martha Olawale

”His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;  the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:10-11

As I sat in church that day, I was overwhelmed by all that life threw at me. Like other times that I’ve felt burdened by a weight too heavy to lift, I knew I needed God to help ease my weary heart. The worship and message were great, but I needed something more, and a voice from Heaven would have been welcomed or a tap on the shoulder by a hand I couldn’t see.

After church, just as I was heading out with my husband, a woman stopped us and said God laid something in her heart to share with us. She cried as she relayed the comforting words to us, and my heart melted instantly. My mental tears were silent, and the knocks on Heaven’s door were private, but the person speaking to us was an extension of my Father, and her role was to remind us that we were not alone.

Maybe not as outright, but I’ve been through a few encounters like these in my walk with God, as many other Christians have. God doesn’t have to do that, but He always did out of His abundance of kindness. Now, when I’m at junctions, where my legs become too heavy to move, and all I can do is sit at the foot of the cross, I ask God for a little message in a bottle to ease my burden.

There are still different circumstances where I want to scream but can’t utter a word and cry but can’t find the tears. Situations that are too daunting for me to see beyond the veil or the light beyond the tunnel. But regardless of how confined the corner I’m boxed into, I’m growing to know to look for the little message in a bottle that God sends to prop me up and lead me to keep fighting.

That experience was enough to carry me through that season of life, and while I could still see the heavy load before me, I knew who was lifting it. Our circumstances did not change that day, but my heart did because God sent me a message through a stranger at church, and through her tears, I saw my Father’s compassion for me. He was closer than I thought, and He felt every pull my heart endured. I rested in His warm embrace and was encouraged to keep running.

As you stroll on the shores of life, be mindful of those little messages in a bottle God places on your path to strengthen your faith. No matter how dark the sky above us or high the waves of the sea we are riding on, there are moments the ray of Heaven shines on us to remind us that God is closer than a brother. Look for those encounters each day and store them in a jar in your heart; you’ll see that God delights in seeing you flourish and always sends the sun to brighten your day and the rain to drown your fear.