Have you seen the movie Eagle Eye? Two seemingly random people are thrown together by a mysterious voice that keeps calling them with instructions. They end up working this wildly elaborate plot in supposed service to their country. I won’t ruin the ending for you (and it’s not relevant to my point).
The thing that caught my attention is the when the voice calls them for the first time. She gives them a directive and then says, “You’ve been activated.”
They are unsuspecting, normal people whose services are needed because they are in the right place at the right time.
I think God calls on us in the same way sometimes. We are going about our daily routines and “bam,” we’re called into service.
“You’ve been activated”
Last week I was heading to work when I got on the subway at the normal time and normal place. An older gentleman sat down and began to talk to me. Now, if you are familiar with NYC subways, you realize that no one talks to each other…usually ever…especially in the morning. The thing about this man is that he wasn’t annoying. He was 73 and he had chronic pain in his back. He was on his way to physical therapy in Jersey City where the doctors do not have any other options for him except live with the pain. He kept saying “I just don’t know what else I can do.”
Almost immediately I knew that God said, “You’ve been activated.” I thought, “Lord, You don’t want me to pray for this man on the quiet train, do You???”
It got even better when the man explained that he had seen a preacher on TV the night before talking about healing and he had called, but couldn’t decide whether to go…he wanted to know if I believed things like that could happen. First, I thought about how the Lord has a sense of humor. I told him I knew God could heal Him and give him a miracle. I have seen it myself.
I still didn’t know if I should pray for him on the train, but it turned out he just needed someone to tell him he should go to the church. Sometimes God just needs us to give people a prod.
You just never know when you’ll be activated. But, rest assured, God has activated others for you and He will use you if you are willing. If you and me are paying attention.
Do you have an “activation” story?