Today, I am grateful for the tremendous blessing of others who are willing to follow the Spirit’s prompting and use their creative gifts for the Lord, because he has perfect timing.

Earlier this week I posted Supporting Arms, telling just a little about my husband’s anxiety and fear and my struggle with helping him through it. I couldn’t find the words to say. On Tuesday, however, I discovered that a friend of mine who has also struggled with anxiety and fear had been going through a recurrence as well, and God gave her the words to say—the words to write—that helped reassure my husband. She was open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and willing to be vulnerable enough to post about her own struggle and to post encouragement for others going through the same thing. I took a screenshot of the post and shared it with my husband, who was thankful for what she had written. (The post was on her personal Instagram and Facebook accounts, so I won’t link to it or share it here, but it was beautifully written.)

Only 36 minutes ago, this same friend again published a post on her personal accounts that was in God’s perfect timing. My mother-in-law passed away around 12:30 a.m. this morning, and my husband is (understandably) grief-stricken. My friend, who had known nothing about my mother-in-law being in the hospital or on the verge of death, nor had she known of her passing, posted a poem she had written about mourning—giving permission to those who are grieving to mourn and pour their hearts out to God. Chills. What perfect timing our Lord has, and I know that whatever my friend is going through to have written this, she is still open to God’s prompting to share what he is teaching her with others—with us, who needed it at just day, just this hour, just this moment.

Is God prompting you to use the gifts he has given you? If so, please—follow his prompting. You may never know how he will use what you do through you to help others, and at the same time to glorify his name. I let my friend know, because I wanted to thank her and encourage her in whatever she is going through.

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

The King will reply, “Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Matt. 25: 34-40, NIV

Your words, your art, your actions, your heart can be the bread, the drink, the invitation, the clothing, the care, the visit that someone needs to see the Lord at that moment. You may never know of the effect you have, but you can both be the hands and heart of the King, and serve the King, all at once. Don’t let that chance past you by. My friend didn’t, and I am grateful.