It All Started with a Domino

Let me share this true story with you.  It was about two weeks before Christmas, and an older woman was standing in the checkout line at a store when she overheard a young lady in front of her speaking to the cashier. The young lady seemed highly distraught when she mentioned to the cashier that she didn’t have enough money to pay her bills and also buy gifts for her children for Christmas.  The older woman asked her, “How much money do you need to pay your bills?” She looked at her quizzically and said, “Two hundred dollars.”  The older woman got out her checkbook, wrote a check for that exact amount, and then handed it to the young lady.  You may be thinking, “Wow, what a nice random act of kindness.” But was it random or was there a Higher Power at work here?  

You see, I know the older woman and I know that it wasn’t random at all. I know that Christ, who lives in her through the Holy Spirit, led her to do something that she didn’t totally understand, was a little out of her comfort zone, and was even a bit risky.

Have you ever personally witnessed or been the recipient of what you thought was a “random” act of kindness? Maybe a stranger paid for your order in a drive through line or in a restaurant.  Maybe someone you didn’t even know helped you out after a difficult time such as a death, fire, tornado, hurricane, or flood.  Maybe you received money from an unexpected source during a financially difficult time.  Like in the story above, maybe what you saw or experienced wasn’t “random” at all.  Maybe the Holy Spirit was the catalyst for some of these actions as well.  

1 Peter 4:10 states, “Each one should use whatever gift they have received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 

This verse is at the heart of this ministry– freely giving away the grace and love found in Christ to others. Whether this is through our time, money, talents, or acts of kindness, we are asked to faithfully do and give what we can.  Redeemer’s Heart is also about lifting up visual artists and helping them to grow in their faith, their reach, and their abilities. We want to provide a venue for visual artists to share the love they have found in Christ with others.

But the most important mission of Redeemer’s Heart is to simply love people, ALL people, regardless of race, gender, or spiritual beliefs, in a way that they might feel and know the love of Christ.

When the overall vision for this website was first laid on my heart by Holy Spirit, including an artist’s testimony and devotional column on it was not how I envisioned it. I thought it would just be a place where people could find and buy inspiring Christian art with the proceeds going to charity as well as a place where visual artists could contribute their gifts to help others and to share the love they have found in Christ.  But God had additional, much bigger ideas for Redeemer’s Heart, many of which haven’t even been revealed yet.  He IS the original artist after all– the Creator of the universe and everything in it– so of course His creative plans are going to be better and different from mine!

Isaiah 55:8-9 states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

I must say…writing this first post to help you understand the inspiration and vision of this ministry truly pushed me out of my comfort zone. You see, I don’t like to write!  Doesn’t God have a sense of humor like that!?! One of the things I have discovered about the way Holy Spirit works is that He continually leads me to go beyond what I think I am capable of doing. I believe, as we all become more and more sensitive to Holy Spirit’s voice, we will be amazed at the things we can actually accomplish with His help. So now that you know God’s overall vision for Redeemer’s Heart, you will understand why this Art & Soul column was such an important part of His plan for the website. Yes, God knows I don’t like to write, I don’t feel it’s one of my gifts, and it stresses me out. But with Holy Spirit’s help and trusting in His plan, I was able to complete this first post. What a relief!

Elana

Have you been the recipient of a “random” or maybe “not so random” act of kindness? What happened? How did it make you feel?  I’d LOVE to hear about it in the comments below!