God prompted me to talk to a stranger and this happened
Sometime in 2018 in Thailand, I ate at a food court in a department store and sat by myself at a communal table. This woman asked me if she, her partner, and their baby could sit at the same table, so I said, "Sure, go ahead, it's empty." After finishing my meal and getting out of my seat, I noticed a pentagram (satanic star symbol) tattoo on the woman’s arm. As I was on my way to go get some Thai tea and be on my way out to do my own thing, I sensed in my spirit, "Go tell the woman I (God) love her." I thought to myself, "What? I don't want to speak to the woman." I wondered if this was my own thought.
As I was standing in line to get my tea, I said to God, "Sure, if you want me to speak to her, it's probably important, and I will obey, but You need to show me a sign that it's not just my thought." After I picked up my Thai iced tea, I was ready to leave, hoping that I wouldn't see a sign so I wouldn't have to walk up to a stranger and tell her that God loves her, already sensing rejection from her. And, of course, as soon as I walked out the door of the tea shop, I saw this woman wearing a long t-shirt (down to her knees) with prints of hearts, doves, and STARS everywhere. It wasn’t just a regular-size T-shirt. It was a long-down-to-the-knee shirt. I thought, "Oh no... why God.... please don't... okay... I will go say this and just leave... I hope they don't live in Chiang Mai. They look like tourists here anyway... Okay, I can do this. I will never see them after this anyway”.
Shyly, I slowly walked over to the table and said to the woman, "Excuse me, God told me to tell you that He loves you a lot." Instead of my anticipated rejection, she said, "Thank you so much," with a big smile. I hurriedly said, "Well, have a great day. Bye!” and walked away as quickly as possible. I thought, "Okay, that wasn’t too bad." I was genuinely curious about what that message could’ve meant to her because it was well-accepted. Even though I may never know now, it was probably very important to that person if God wanted me to speak to her.
And then, the following year, in 2019, this happened. I was smoking outside a hospital in London before I quit smoking (2 weeks after this, actually!). Then a woman approached me, asked me for a lighter, and took it to this man sitting in a portable hospital chair. I sensed God wanted me to talk to the man and tell him He loves him. “What?! No God… wait… is this my thought? Okay… I need to see signs”. I thought it was just my thought, perhaps. Immediately, I was reminded of when I was in a similar situation from the previous year with seeing the star, heart, and dove symbols. So, I thought, “Okay, I’ll look for star symbols, and I will need to find three of them (stars) just to be sure.” And of course, within 1 minute of my proximity of 10 feet where I was standing, I saw a giant CONVERSE star logo on someone’s t-shirt. That was 1. And then another person went by with a tattoo of the star of David on his arm, that was 2 and an obviously clear sign. Then another 3rd star I saw somewhere, but I can’t remember exactly what it was.
By this time, I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to tell him that God loves him and just walk away. I mean, what can be so bad to tell someone that “God loves you” when we all need to be loved since we’re probably all broken somewhere with hurts and wounds in our lives. I was expecting this to be a quick message and go my way. I approached the man and said to him, “Excuse me… Um… I sense that God wants me to tell you that He loves you and that He will heal you.”
By the way, the “He will heal you” part was not even on my mind, and I know for sure that it was from the Holy Spirit. I had no idea what he was sick from at that point. I didn’t expect much from this encounter, but the man replied with a look of surprise and a warm smile. He said, “Thank you so much. It’s funny you say that. You know, I’m here at the hospital because I tried to take my life last night.” There I was, standing in awe, thinking what was happening. I explained to him that as I was smoking, I saw signs three times and that I had to speak to him even though I didn’t want to. Then again, he was amazed because 3 is a special number to him. His birthday is July 3! He also showed me a text message that he had sent to his wife earlier that day in which he said something like, “I decided to have a positive spiritual outlook in my life” as a result of his life not ending the day before.
Based on our short conversation, it turns out that he went through a lot in his life. The first time was surviving from falling on his head on the ground from his work as a roofer. The second time was surviving a brain tumor. And then the third time was the previous night when he tried to take his own life by crashing his car by driving 50+ miles somewhere, and the next thing was waking up at the hospital. Surprisingly, he survived them all. I told the man that he must have a big purpose in his life for him to have survived all of them and that the enemy tried to take him out before fulfilling his destiny. Our conversation ended with us praying and him accepting Jesus into his life again.
Honestly, I’m not sure who was more blessed by all this. I was merely a “messenger,” delivering a simple message by telling him that God loves him. But this time, I witnessed what was happening in this man’s life and what this message meant to him. When he made a decision to have a "positive spiritual outlook" in his life, God intervened through a stranger (me) to deliver a message in an improbable situation (via smoking cigarettes) to him that God loves him. I don't know how much more real God's love can be. I also can't forget the slight tears he had in his eyes. It was the look of, "I can't believe this is happening." For that reason, I feel like that encounter probably significantly impacted his life.
As I was standing in line to get my tea, I said to God, "Sure, if you want me to speak to her, it's probably important, and I will obey, but You need to show me a sign that it's not just my thought." After I picked up my Thai iced tea, I was ready to leave, hoping that I wouldn't see a sign so I wouldn't have to walk up to a stranger and tell her that God loves her, already sensing rejection from her. And, of course, as soon as I walked out the door of the tea shop, I saw this woman wearing a long t-shirt (down to her knees) with prints of hearts, doves, and STARS everywhere. It wasn’t just a regular-size T-shirt. It was a long-down-to-the-knee shirt. I thought, "Oh no... why God.... please don't... okay... I will go say this and just leave... I hope they don't live in Chiang Mai. They look like tourists here anyway... Okay, I can do this. I will never see them after this anyway”.
Shyly, I slowly walked over to the table and said to the woman, "Excuse me, God told me to tell you that He loves you a lot." Instead of my anticipated rejection, she said, "Thank you so much," with a big smile. I hurriedly said, "Well, have a great day. Bye!” and walked away as quickly as possible. I thought, "Okay, that wasn’t too bad." I was genuinely curious about what that message could’ve meant to her because it was well-accepted. Even though I may never know now, it was probably very important to that person if God wanted me to speak to her.
And then, the following year, in 2019, this happened. I was smoking outside a hospital in London before I quit smoking (2 weeks after this, actually!). Then a woman approached me, asked me for a lighter, and took it to this man sitting in a portable hospital chair. I sensed God wanted me to talk to the man and tell him He loves him. “What?! No God… wait… is this my thought? Okay… I need to see signs”. I thought it was just my thought, perhaps. Immediately, I was reminded of when I was in a similar situation from the previous year with seeing the star, heart, and dove symbols. So, I thought, “Okay, I’ll look for star symbols, and I will need to find three of them (stars) just to be sure.” And of course, within 1 minute of my proximity of 10 feet where I was standing, I saw a giant CONVERSE star logo on someone’s t-shirt. That was 1. And then another person went by with a tattoo of the star of David on his arm, that was 2 and an obviously clear sign. Then another 3rd star I saw somewhere, but I can’t remember exactly what it was.
By this time, I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to tell him that God loves him and just walk away. I mean, what can be so bad to tell someone that “God loves you” when we all need to be loved since we’re probably all broken somewhere with hurts and wounds in our lives. I was expecting this to be a quick message and go my way. I approached the man and said to him, “Excuse me… Um… I sense that God wants me to tell you that He loves you and that He will heal you.”
By the way, the “He will heal you” part was not even on my mind, and I know for sure that it was from the Holy Spirit. I had no idea what he was sick from at that point. I didn’t expect much from this encounter, but the man replied with a look of surprise and a warm smile. He said, “Thank you so much. It’s funny you say that. You know, I’m here at the hospital because I tried to take my life last night.” There I was, standing in awe, thinking what was happening. I explained to him that as I was smoking, I saw signs three times and that I had to speak to him even though I didn’t want to. Then again, he was amazed because 3 is a special number to him. His birthday is July 3! He also showed me a text message that he had sent to his wife earlier that day in which he said something like, “I decided to have a positive spiritual outlook in my life” as a result of his life not ending the day before.
Based on our short conversation, it turns out that he went through a lot in his life. The first time was surviving from falling on his head on the ground from his work as a roofer. The second time was surviving a brain tumor. And then the third time was the previous night when he tried to take his own life by crashing his car by driving 50+ miles somewhere, and the next thing was waking up at the hospital. Surprisingly, he survived them all. I told the man that he must have a big purpose in his life for him to have survived all of them and that the enemy tried to take him out before fulfilling his destiny. Our conversation ended with us praying and him accepting Jesus into his life again.
Honestly, I’m not sure who was more blessed by all this. I was merely a “messenger,” delivering a simple message by telling him that God loves him. But this time, I witnessed what was happening in this man’s life and what this message meant to him. When he made a decision to have a "positive spiritual outlook" in his life, God intervened through a stranger (me) to deliver a message in an improbable situation (via smoking cigarettes) to him that God loves him. I don't know how much more real God's love can be. I also can't forget the slight tears he had in his eyes. It was the look of, "I can't believe this is happening." For that reason, I feel like that encounter probably significantly impacted his life.
1 comment
Hi Hannah, Just read this story and can’t stop crying! The beauty of how God moves through us and reaches people exactly at the moment they need to feel the love of God.
I too look for Signs all the time, and where I am called, share with others – even when it is uncomfortable and you don’t know how the message will be received.
I came across you, from a YouTuber introducing your jewellery recently, and so glad I did. By the way, I am based in Chiangmai and come from England, and am designing jewellery with connection to God at the center of it all. I love what you are doing and wish you all the blessings.