I believe God gives us all special gifts and then uses them for His own purpose. According to the Bible, a few of these gifts are; wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
At sixteen, like many, I lived at home and worked part-time at Target off Loop 12 in the Plant department. One day, I met a girl whose name now escapes me, but—for the purpose of this blog, I’ll call her “Mary.” She also worked at Target but in the Ice- Cream Shop located only a few steps away from where I watered an assortment of plants and sold gardening supplies.
Mary always had a great attitude and positive energy exuded her. Having a small framed body didn’t prevent her from stocking the food cooler with gallons of ice-cream. Mary had a soft voice that always stayed at one octave and had fine light brown hair. She didn’t wear make-up and a bright smile covered her pale face. She was older and lived in a dorm across the street from the store at the bible college Christ for the Nations and walked to work every day. Often we had the same shift and took our short breaks together. We enjoyed each other’s company and spent talked about school and Christ. There was something different about her; she was very kind and even when a customer didn’t know if they wanted one or two scoops of ice-cream, she remained calm and tried to assist them with their choice. She was patient with me too and if I had questions about a passage in the Bible, she would ensure I understood. She took an interest in me and for a high school kid having a conversation with someone in college was pretty cool.
I was raised in the church and most Sundays that’s where you could find me. So I knew of Jesus but didn’t actually know Him—if that makes any sense.
This girl from the ice cream parlor became my friend and one day she delivered a gift that wasn’t wrapped in pretty foil paper with ribbons and it wasn’t in box with tissue paper, nor did it have any monetary value, but it was a gift that I would cherish and use for the rest of my life.
One day while on our break, she asked if we could pray together and we did. She guided me into the food cooler and I wondered would I get in trouble being there. I was nervous and cold. I didn’t know what to think but I didn’t turn around and leave either, I stayed.
She calmly and sweetly asked if I had any prayer request. I was stunned by the question and just shook my head no.
She took my hands and held them in her small hands as began to pray. She paused and asked.
“Do you want to be saved “I shook my head up and down, and responded, “Yea.”
“All you have to do is truly believe in God and that He is the only one that can save you. Now by His grace, you are saved.
I became emotional and tears trickled down my face. It was something about her voice, it was strong, yet calm and fear was no longer upon me. The Mary looked at me and asked,
“Do you want God to bless you with a gift” and I perked up a little and immediately responded,
“Yes.”
“Which one?” she asked.
Before I knew it, “I’d like to speak in tongues,” escaped my lips. Why I don’t know, maybe it was because my grandfather did.
“She said ok so whenever you pray to God, say thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, and if you believe, then Gods will be done.”
I softly began to say, “Thank-you Jesus over and over again. Then suddenly, I spoke in a language that was unfamiliar to me and my vision was blurred with liquid that rolled slowly down my cheeks. I used my hands to wipe my face and she just looked at me and smiled.
Still holding my hands, she said, “Whenever you want to speak to Jesus in this manner, just do what you did today.”
I just stood there wondering what was going on and what had Mary just done to me. She looked up at me without a sound and led me out of the cooler and back to my department. She waved at me and walked away.
For the next few days, I looked for “Mary” to return to work so we could talk the gift she’d given me but she never did. I finally asked the department manager where was Mary? She responded, “she no longer works here.”
Do you know what your gift is? If so, what is it? How can it be used to help others? Do you think there a need to speak in tongues?