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That Was Me!

I had an experience several years ago that impressed upon my mind and heart how very much the Lord loves us and how keenly his mindfulness of us is.

I had been to Menan to do some yard work. As I turned onto the main street that goes past the Smith’s store in Idaho Falls, the thought came into my mind, “Stop at the Smith’s video store.” I hadn’t been thinking about movies or renting a video, so it seemed like a strange thing that the thought came so powerfully. I kept trying to think of a reason to go there and couldn’t think of any, so I decided it was just a random thought, but as I got closer, the thought came again to go to the video store. Again, I couldn’t think of a reason to go, so again, I decided to ignore it. As I approached the parking lot, the thought came again, only this time almost like a shout: “Go to the Smith’s video store!” So I turned in.

I went to the video rental area and entered through the entrance aisle. I stood there for a little bit, wondering what in the world I was doing there. I couldn’t think of a reason, so I mentally shrugged my shoulders and decided to leave. The exit aisle was full of people waiting to check out, and there was no one coming in the entrance aisle, so I started to go out that way, but immediately the thought came, “Go out the exit.” I turned to go that way, but it seemed silly to try and maneuver my way past the people waiting to check out videos, so again I headed for the entrance aisle, but again the thought came even stronger, “Go out the exit!” So I did.

At the checkout aisle, there was an alarm system that would go off if someone tried to leave with a video that they hadn’t paid for, so the checker would place the checked out video past the sensor on the end of the aisle where the customer could pick it up after passing by the system. As I went out, I saw a video that someone had obviously unintentionally left there. I turned and asked the checker if someone had checked it out. He said that a lady had just rented it, so I picked it up and exited the aisle just in time to see a lady turn the corner to leave the store. I hurried after her to take the video (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, by the way) to her.

Since I had gone into the store, the heavens had opened up and it was pouring rain. As I approached her, I could tell by her body language that she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. I got to her just as she reached her car, parked in the handicapped parking. I asked her if she had rented the video and she said she had. As I handed her the video, I noticed that her left rear tire was flat. I pointed it out to her and she exclaimed, “Oh, no!” and she began to sob.

I told her I’d be happy to change it for her. She had a little hatchback car and when I opened the back to get the tire and equipment out, I saw that there was a wheelchair and a teenage boy sitting in the passenger seat. It was obvious the wheelchair was his.

I got the tire changed and as I was putting everything back together, I remembered that I had been in a tire store a few days before and had seen a poster that they fixed flats for free, so I told her about it and gave her directions to it. She thanked me and drove away.

As I watched her go, in an instant, the entire sequence of events flashed through my mind in a millisecond, and the words came into my heart and mind, “That was me.” And I felt the tender mercy and compassion that the Lord has for her and her son in their trials. I don’t know if she felt His love for her that day, but I certainly did.

Beside those thoughts, another thought came into my mind, “How many times has the Lord tried to direct my path, and I have ignored or rationalized away the promptings that he attempts to give me because they don’t make sense or seem silly?”