I’m thinking this morning.

Thinking about God and how He works. Thinking about how He gets us involved. Thinking about the wonder that He includes us at all…that He wants to.

I’m thinking about all this because I got an email from an old friend whom I haven’t seen for about 5 years. She asked me if I had given her a particular book, as she found it on her shelf while she was cleaning and couldn’t remember how it came to be there.

It turns out that I had, indeed, given it to her – about 7 years ago. It was called Secret Longings of the Heart and I had read it, loved it, and given some situations that were going on within our women’s ministry at the time, had decided that it should be offered as a study. However, the study never came to fruition. Instead, the Lord prompted me to give the book to this particular friend and apparently, she put it on her shelf and never picked it up again – until now.

It turns out that the fact it sat dormant all these years was by design. God knew all those years ago that TODAY she would be struggling with some “secret” sin. He knew that it would be rooted in unfulfilled longings, and disappointment that she had suppressed. That study never formed because it was ONE woman that needed the book SEVEN YEARS LATER. Not only has the book given her some revelation and direction on how to get to the root of the problem, but God revealed Himself to her in a very personal way, showing her how deeply He cares about not only her “now”, but where she’ll be years from now.

You know, there are some days when I feel like I have accomplished absolutely nothing for my own family, let alone the Kingdom! I know for sure that the simple act of giving a book away wouldn’t have made me think twice that I had made any sort of significant difference. But today, I’m reminded that when we are trying to serve God with our whole hearts, even in the midst of the chaos and distractions of our normal, everyday lives, He can take our meager offerings and do extraordinary things.

And sometimes, He allows us to see the end result.

What a gift.