God Cares about Our Green Beans

By Kelly Wheeler

It was winter in the Northwest, many years ago, when my dear friend Debbie, who lived several hours away in the countryside of rural Oregon, invited me to come for a weekend visit.

Before leaving home, I called and asked Debbie, “Is there anything that you want me to bring?”

“No, I have everything I need. Just come!” she responded cheerfully.

When I walked into Debbie’s home, a few hours later, it looked like she was running a full-scale restaurant. Recipes and dishes of food were everywhere. She smiled to welcome me, but then sighed sadly, “I forgot that I need fresh green beans for one of these recipes.”

“Oh, you should have told me, and I would have brought you some,” I responded.

“Well, we’ll just have to go to Safeway in town and get some!” she replied.

“What are you talking about? It’s winter! You aren’t going to find fresh green beans this time of year up here,” I countered.

For the next few moments, we argued back and forth about the possibility of finding fresh green beans, then Debbie said, “What are we doing? Let’s pray!”

As Debbie began to pray the most earnest sincere prayer, I thought to myself, “This is ridiculous. I pray to pass a test, or for something serious, but praying for green beans? This seems a bit petty!” However, as Debbie’s prayer continued, I marveled at her childlike faith, love, and adoration for the Lord.

As we headed back to town, Debbie continued praying.

When we finally arrived in the produce section of the nearest Safeway, we were greeted by a friendly gentlemen arranging shelves of food. “Anything I can help you with?” he asked.

“Yes!” Debbie responded. “We are just here for a carton of fresh green beans.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry ma’am.” The man replied, frowning. “We don’t have fresh green beans right now. Those are out of season.”

Confidently and yet respectfully, Debbie spoke again. “We’ve made these green beans a matter of prayer, and I would appreciate it if you would go back to your storage room and get them, because they are back there.”

The man looked at my friend with a bit of surprise as he spoke again. “I’m actually the produce manager and I do the ordering for all our fresh foods. And I can tell you, we don’t have fresh green beans right now in stock. We might have canned or frozen green beans, but not fresh ones.”

“Sir, do you know who we are?” Debbie asked earnestly. The man looked at us with questioning eyes. Debbie continued. “We are daughters of the King. Those green beans are back there, so please go get them for us.”

As the man walked away, I was sure that he was probably going to call security and ask us to leave the store.

However, a few seconds later, he came back with a carton of fresh green beans in his hands. He looked at us solemnly as he handed the green beans to Debbie. “I did not order any green beans, so I would say these are a miracle.”

Kelly Wheeler is a hairdresser who writes from Walla Walla, WA where she loves witnessing to her clients about the love of Jesus.

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World Church Prayer Requests

May 14 - 21, 2017

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please continue to pray for the broadcast of I Want This City on Hope Channel.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray especially for efforts across Japan to reach the people of its many cities.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for more and more church members to recognize the importance of reaching the cities of our world, and to dedicate themselves to this work.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the refugees in the Middle East. Refugee camps in the Middle East and elsewhere are essentially pop-up cities. Please pray for the needs of the people stuck there—health needs, educational needs, material needs, relational needs, and more.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for refugees in Europe as they seek to start a new life in cities across the continent—for ability to learn the language quickly, and the opportunity to get jobs that pay enough for them to support their families. Pray that they may know Jesus.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray that God will show us also how to reach those closest to us, our next-door neighbors, our co-workers, or unbelieving family and friends. We may be the only link they have to hearing and seeing the gospel lived out in daily life. Let’s pray that we be faithful in our sphere of influence.