Conversations with God

Hello God, it’s me, Mara:

You know, Lord, old stories might be ancient, but – this still happens every so often. This is how it was told: One day, a man went to visit a church; he got there early so he parked his car and got out. Then another car pulled up near him and that guy got out and said, “I always park there! You took my place!”

This actually happened: a visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, “That’s my seat! You took my place!” The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday School, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, “That’s where I always sit! You took my place!” The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still he said nothing. We did not see this one happen, but we KNOW that it did – maybe not just like this, but if we were paying attention, we might have seen or heard this. Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, “What happened to you?” The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, “I took your place.”

When you read this, say a prayer for your dear ones, your pastor, your neighbors, maybe just maybe, we can get the world to start thinking of who took our place.

You took our place, Lord, as we read in 1 John 2:2: “He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon Himself, and brought us into fellowship with God; and He is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours, but all the world’s.”

Love, Mara