WAS SHE AN ANGEL?

She was tall, white-haired and approached me with purpose. I turned and looked into her sea-blue eyes. She seemed to hesitate. Perhaps this was who I was supposed to help today. As was my habit, I had written “Help Someone” in the middle of my grocery list, but had become engrossed in finding my favorite protein bars. It turned out that I was the one needing help, and I didn’t even know it. But she did. Was she an angel??

Many months ago I started writing “Help Someone” in the middle of my list of veggies, eggs, fruits, etc. It began after God had me pray for a woman with torn rotator cuffs in the parking lot of a grocery store. He healed her on the spot! Why not be intentional in looking for people to help and/or pray for, I thought. Thus began my shopping ‘ministry’.

So, when this elderly shopper approached me, I immediately thought: She must be the one. Instead, I was the target. Here was our exchange:

“I was in the bakery section and I…I…noticed that a lot of the products for sale were expired,” she said hesitantly.

We were far from that area of the store. Why would she be telling me about stale bakery products in the cereal aisle? Perhaps she was confused, after all she seemed a bit frail. My heart was ready to help her in any way that I could, but how?

“I just felt like I should tell you that,” she continued.

I thanked her, still questioning what the relevance was and how I was to help her. She turned back toward her shopping cart. Was that it? I wondered.

I picked up the two boxes of protein bars that I had just dropped into my cart. Normally I would not have checked the expiration dates, but her comment stuck in my mind. I flipped the boxes over and was surprised to find that both had expired two weeks prior. Really? I put them back on the shelf and caught up with her.

“Thank you! Both boxes were expired.”

“I thought I was supposed to tell you that,” she said smiling.

Then I returned the favor by advising her that I had recently noticed that many of my favorite products now had a label in near-microscopic print just under the ingredients list: “This product contains a bioengineered ingredient.” Crackers, chocolate chip bits, Italian breadcrumbs. The list goes on and on. She smiled and thanked me for the advice.

Was she an angel sent to warn me? I’ll never know. But her warning was providential, and God’s timing was amazing!

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

Hebrews 13:2 NKJV