Grace and more grace...

"Moses says, 'Wanderers though we be in the howling wilderness, yet we find a home in Thee, even as our forefathers did when they came out of the Ur of the Chaldees'..." 
(From Spurgeon's Exposition
of Psalm 90)

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I left Kirkwall Baptist Church in a fog that Sunday afternoon.  We decided to walk down to the harbor for lunch and to spend some time processing.  We were seated in the dining room of the Kirkwall Hotel, and had just placed our order when an older couple sitting next to us struck up a conversation.

"We don't normally do this, but we were wondering if you would like to take a tour of the island, then come back to our home for tea?"

We accepted their gracious invitation and spent a memorable afternoon together.  David and Mary were committed Christians from Surrey who had recently built a summer home in Dounby (on Mainland Orkney).  We shared our journey with them as we drove around the island, and returned to their home for tea, where they prayed over us.  We felt as though angels had been sent to minister!

We decided to go back for the evening service at church.  At the end of the service they offered prayer for anyone in need.  At the moment I COULD NOT IMAGINE BEING MORE IN NEED OF PRAYER, so we stayed.  We met with Alastair and Sarah Banks, briefly explaining our plight, then launched directly into prayer.  While they prayed with us, (remember, these were COMPLETE strangers...we had never seen them before in our lives), the Lord impressed images in their minds.  When we finished praying, Alastair said, "I saw three distinct pictures while we were praying.  The first was a narrow Arizona road.  The second was a vast expanse of ocean...I sense the Lord wants me to tell you that He will be with you, wherever you go.  Third I saw Petra.  I don't know what it means, except that I believe you will know it when you see it."

Then Sarah shared, "I only saw one image.  It was a picture of the woman at the well.  She left her water jars to go and tell people about Jesus."

By this time I could not stop the flow of tears.  Alastair could not have known that our favorite place of refuge for the past seven years was White Stallion Ranch, located down a narrow road just outside of Tucson, Arizona.  We had been there in April!  When Sarah spoke of the woman at the well, the painting on the wall of the Oasis came immediately to mind...the woman at the well...she met the Source of Living Water and her life was forever changed.

The Lord, El Roi, 'the God Who Sees' was speaking loud and clear.  I could not help but think of Psalm 139...

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways...You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from Your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from Your presence?...If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me...even the darkness is not dark to You..."

Before calling it a day, I made another entry in my journal:

June 9, 2013: 
"Gracious Creator, Shepherd, and Comforter - You are far more attentive to our circumstances than we deserve...The past twenty-four hours have served as an unexpected spiritual Oasis.  Only You could have made the arrangements for this..."