A couple of months ago my cell phone went missing. I was on break at work when I first discovered that it was gone. The pocket of my backpack in which it usually resides was unzipped. That evening, I called my number from my grandfather’s cell phone, and it went right to the voice mail. But the next time I tried, it rang several times. My suspicions were confirmed when a few minutes later I got two text messages on my grandfather’s phone, “Leave me alone,” and “Don’t EVER call me again.”

I’ve never been stolen from before, and found myself feeling strangely hurt that someone would do such a thing. But then I started remembering some messages that I had heard lately from Christ’s teachings in the book off Matthew, about regarding our stuff only as a stewardship to be used for the Lord, and about showing to our enemies the kind of love that could only come from Christ.

Happily, a friend of mine who had heard the same messages was sitting next to me, and so we began conspiring ways to carry out Christ’s teachings in this situation. The cell phone thief certainly never dreamed how eagerly we embarked on the project of replying to her!

Our first message said something like, “I’m sorry you felt like u had 2 take my phone, but maybe u need it more than me so ur welcome 2 it. I can’t hold anything against u because God has forgiven me so much. Have a good night and I’m praying 4 u!”

We giggled as we tried to imagine her response, but both of us gasped in delight when a reply came back. We had to smile at the message, which said that she had found the phone on the floor with no minutes, so someone else must have been the one to steal it initially.

We replied, saying that, either way, it was no problem. I hoped it would work well for her, and that I would be glad to leave the charger for her if she’d like it (no great sacrifice since I no longer had a phone to charge. )

From there on, my new friend’s tone completely changed. We ended up texting each other for another hour or so. I got the chance to tell her that I am not “amazing”, as she claimed, but that the Lord Jesus is the most amazing, wonderful, and lovely Person she’ll ever have the chance to meet. She said that she had a Bible, but that because of everything that had happened in her life, she had given up on God. “My dad and stepmom are really big on that stuff its just hard for me to grasp if u no what i mean.”

Who wanted to go to bed, when the Lord had opened up such a great opportunity to show her even the tiniest glimpse of what life in Christ, and His love, means. Eventually, however, we said warm goodbyes. The next night, what was my delight when she texted again, telling me that she had opened her Bible the night before, and found a verse that she liked. She also wanted to ask some advice about a relationship problem. I was so amazed at how the Lord was working! We ended up exchanging email addresses, and have written back and forth several times!

It was such a small thing, really. No great sacrifice was required to give up a forty dollar phone—especially when it had already been taken. But it turned out to be such a big thing for me, such a big demonstration of the Lord’s hand at work. He knew that I might not have the grace to give someone my phone voluntarily, so in order for me to get in on the joy of what He wanted to do, He allowed this girl to steal the phone. I would probably never meet her in everyday life, so He saw to it that she has one of the few phone numbers I have memorized. Before I received that teaching from Matthew, it would perhaps never have occurred to me to respond in grace, so the Lord made sure it happened after those ideas had been planted in my head. The very day that my phone was stolen was a day that I truly didn’t want to be at work. It seemed like a day that didn’t have any eternal impact. 

Truly His thoughts are far above mine! The last chapter of this story hasn’t yet been written—I’m excited to see what He’s still going to do after such a beginning! Please pray with me for this girl, and pray that I’ll have the wisdom to know how best to continue our relationship. And rejoice with me that we have such an “outside-the-box” kind of God, Who uses every circumstance to pursue the lost in love, and build up His own children.