Divine Duty

When I woke up that Monday morning, the thought struck me like lightening.

Today is my first jury duty

But despite the thought, I had a sense of peace in my heart when I remembered the verse in Exodus 14:14–

The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
(Exodus 14:14)

I knew deep in my heart that, based on that verse, God was gonna fight for me concerning my jury duty. After all, He owns this whole world! Nothing is impossible for Him to do!

I just had to trust that God will do what He promised.

The Promise

As my dad drove Mom and I to the courthouse, I got my mini Bible out of my purse and asked God to encourage me and strengthen me from His Holy Word. I opened my Bible, and I ended up reading over Isaiah 43:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.…….. Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
And gather you from the west….
“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
 I, even I, am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior.
(Isaiah 43:2,5,10,11, emphasis added)

Wow! As I meditated on those verses, I felt so much peace and strength fill my heart. In my mind, I thanked God that He was with me, that He will fight for me, and that He will lead me to people to witness to at the courthouse who needed to hear about God’s love and be invited to the gospel feast.

The Couple

When we reached the courthouse, Dad dropped me and Mom off. When we entered the court building, the first thing I saw was a huge line of people waiting to go through these airport-type of security scanners. After Mom and I had a turn to go through the security scanners, we eventually went to what looked like a large waiting room. There were so many people! As I sat on my chair, scanning the crowd, I remembered the three GLOW tracts I was impressed to take with me before leaving to jury duty.

God, I prayed, please lead me to someone who needs these GLOW tracts.

Time went by. I sat on my chair, reading my Bible. Out of the corner of my eye, there was a couple who looked to be in their early seventies sitting nearby. The husband, dressed in a blue polo shirt and chambray pants, stared absentmindedly ahead. The wife, wearing thick stylish sunglasses, sat casually beside him, scrolling through her phone–oblivious to her surroundings.

I couldn’t help but feel like this upper middle class-looking elderly couple were the ones God wanted me to witness to. But at the same, I wasn’t so sure.

Only time would tell.

The Miracle

Eventually it was announced that our names will be put up on the screens that were hanging down from the ceilings.

“If you see your name on the screen, please remember the panel letter you’re listed under,” said one of the courthouse secretaries. “If your name does NOT appear on the screen–or if your name is misspelled–please come and talk to one of us at the desk.”

I looked up at the screen. My name was under Panel C.

The last panel.
The last jury group.

I guess we’re gonna be here for awhile, I thought.

But then, twenty minutes after they put the names up on the screen, one of the courthouse secretaries made an unexpected announcement.

“For those who are in Panel C, we’ve just heard that the case has been settled, so you are no longer needed for jury. All who are in Panel C, you’re now dismissed.”

Wow! I thought. Thank You God for fighting for me and delivering me from jury duty!

Although my jury duty was now out of the way, there was another duty I still had.

The Tracts

After one of the courthouse secretaries gave me my jury slip, I got the impression to leave one of the GLOW tracts I had on the empty chair that was next to my seat. So, I made a little U-turn from the exit and went to where I was sitting and placed one of the GLOW tracts there.

Now, remember that couple I mentioned in the previous section? Well, Mom gave them some extra water bottles we had, and started to chat with the wife. Afterwards, Mom whispered to me that I should give them one of the GLOW tracts. I wondered which tract to give them, since I only had two left. So, I prayed about it.

Before Mom and I left, I felt impressed to give them the GLOW tract called A Gift for You.

What a double blessing! God delivered me from doing jury duty, and He provided me with the divine duty to share the truth to that couple, as well as to whoever will pick up that tract from the empty chair! Praise the Lord!

The Uber Driver

But my divine duty of witnessing wasn’t over yet. I still had one last GLOW tract left in my purse.

Lord, I prayed. Please lead me to the one who needs this tract.

My cousin got an Uber for me and Mom to ride in. Our Uber driver was a friendly man who drove a black car. As Mom and I sat in the back of his car, Mom asked,
“Aleah, do you still have one tract left?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Can I have it?”

I gave Mom the last GLOW tract, and she slipped a five dollar tip into it. When he dropped us off at the house, Mom gave the Uber driver the tract and tip.

“No, you don’t need to pay me,” he said kindly.
“No, no,” Mom said. “Please take it.”
The Uber driver sighed. “Okay, thank you so much! Have a good day!”

We got out of his car, and he drove off.

The Call

In Isaiah 43:10, God tells each one of us–

“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
(Isaiah 43:10)

God calls us to be His witnesses. This is the divine duty we’re given as Christians. And for me, I praise God that on the day of my jury duty, God instead gave me a day to perform my divine duty.

But what about you, dear reader? Do you desire to have a divine duty yourself? Unlike jury duty, a divine duty has no age restrictions. Everyone is called by God to do this divine duty of witnessing for Him–including you! And if you want to take up that divine duty and be a true witness of God’s love and truth today, then just pray the following prayer below:

I’d like to conclude this post with a quote that I hope and pray will inspire you to step out and fulfill the divine duty of leading lost souls to the love and truth of God.

“God didn’t add another day in your life because you needed it. He added it because someone out there needs you.”

–unknown

May today be the day we hear God’s call to fulfill our divine duty to reach out to one soul who needs to hear the gospel.

Amen! Maranatha!