I went along to the 'Supernatural School of Ministry' (SSM) at NKCC today. There wasn't many there (10 in total) due to the school holidays and many of us weren't overly enamoured with going out hunting, perhaps we were low on faith, just as we were low on numbers? But Dave Webster gave us a rousing lift as he answered questions and lifted our eyes up to God away from all our fears and self doubt (as they say at Bethel - Look at the solution not the problem!)
We split into our teams after worshipping God and getting full of the Holy Spirit - We had Claire, Jonathon & Dave and straight away figured out we were off to Bluewater as Dave had 2 clues John Lewis & the name Anne.
On the way there Jon mentioned that he had the clue horse and that the emblem of Bluewater is a horse! We got parked right outside John Lewis and as we walked into the store we started ticking off clues pretty rapidly. We saw lots of pink umbrellas on separate shelves and wandered around as Jon had seen a man in a white and black striped top but the man lost us and we eventually ventured out of the shop and into the centre.
Claire noticed a man in a bright yellow top so I approached him and introduced ourselves and set about showing him the treasure map, but we didn't really get anywhere and blessed the man as we moved on upstairs.
Claire had a clue about a playdough, so we headed for the Early Learning Centre. I was amazed as right next door was a shop called 'David & Goliath', but again we found no more treasure in either store. So we headed off in another direction. We went past a shop that had denim jacket's for sale and also had 2x yellow tops in the window and I felt like we were heading in the right direction. We went into Weatherstones as Claire had books as a clue. As soon as we went in I noticed a little old lady with a yellow top on, but I didn't approach her. She was with her granddaughter and her husband and basically I bottled it! We wandered around the store for a bit and then the little old lady walked passed us again and Claire pointed her out again. I mentioned she was with her husband and bottled it a 2nd time! Then I noticed a lady in a disability buggy right by the till (that had a few people queued up!) and again I bottled approaching her. This was probably my biggest disappointment of the day. Crutches, disability vehicles or plaster casts are a clear sign that God wants to step in and do some healing, but that's when we are most out on a limb, and I'm afraid my fear of man got the better of me - But not next time!!!
Claire mentioned that there was a pizza shop downstairs right opposite so we went there and then noticed that the little old lady had followed us - This was too much of a coincidence so we approached her and asked her a few questions. She was trying to rush to the toilet and was all but 10 metres away when we interrupted her and she seemed rather puzzled. But she had a yellow top on and that was enough for us. Her name wasn't on the list, but then when I asked her granddaughters name it was Ann-ie which was pretty close to Anne!!! But the conversation didn't move any further. And she slipped away and went into the toilets!
We went back to NKCC a little disappointed that we hadn't seen God move in power and then realised just how many clues we had ticked off - We were definately hearing from God, that's for sure, but no one was visibly moved or touched, but we were still encouraged.
I went back from NKCC to MFC and our over 60's Cameo Club. I was sitting talking to Elsie, a 93 year old widow. I asked how she was doing and she suddenly blurted out that she was having a bad week - I asked why and she explained how she had fallen up her stairs and bashed her head and badly bruised her knee. I suddenly remembered my treasure map and checked it (it was in my back pocket!) and asked her if it was her right knee??? And guess what??? It was!!!
She was bowled over as I explained to her the events of the day and how it had led me to her to pray for her bad right knee. As we spoke more it turned out that she also has glaucoma and she was smiling from ear to ear as I told her of Gods desire to set her free and meet with her. She is already a Christian but was so encouraged by our time together and prayers. I loved it as she said "Oh yes, God does move in mysterious ways!"
It's crazy how God can use us even when we aren't actively looking for the treasure - This one was when I'd clocked off for the day - Very bizarre, but hugely encouraging!
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