Getting out of your box

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Good morning everyone. This is Pastor Gale with Healing Begins.
I'm so glad you have chose to join me for
another exciting program. You know, sometimes I get my program
titles in the strangest of ways, and so, as you know,
as I travel about, I get a chance to talk
to many people, see many people, and I'm just a

(00:39):
outgoing person anyway, so I'm pretty friendly no matter where
I'm at. So I want to talk to you a
little bit this morning about getting out of your box.
Have you ever felt like you've been trapped in a cycle,
Like you've just been caught in the cycle of depression,
and you're like, man, I just feel depressed, and all
of a sudden, you find yourself in the in a

(01:00):
box of your own making. It's like you're trapped in
your own box. Or I don't know if you've ever
done this, This isn't a different way to think about it.
Sometimes I work in my office and I'm doing a
lot of writing, and I'm doing a lot of focus
in my office, and not of a sudden, they think, man,
I can't think in here no more. I've got to
get out of my box. So I'll get up and
I'll go to a coffee shop. Now, coffee shops are

(01:22):
one of the favorite places I like to go and
set there and just see the opportunities that God brings
my way to get out of my box. And sometimes
when you have what I call God moments or God experiences,
they have a way of lifting you out of your
own depression and your own anxiety, even when maybe nothing

(01:43):
has really changed in what's going on with you. So
I want to encourage you to do an act of kindness,
to get out of your box today and do something
nice for somebody. I want to tell you a story
that happened to me just recently. I had decided to
go to Starbucks early in the morning. My house was

(02:03):
being worked on there, putting some new sighting on. I
wanted to get there later so I could talk to
the people. So I thought, well, you know, I'll go
to Starbucks and I'll sit there and I'll drink my coffee. Well,
it just happened to be that Microsoft had a glitch
and when we went into Starbucks, no one could use

(02:24):
their credit card machine. They had all used cash or
the Starbucks app or whatever, and so everybody was paying
for their coffee and getting their coffee, going about getting
ready for their day. I saw the conductor to the
Amtrak train. He came in to get his coffee with
some of the people that help him on the train,
and everybody was getting ready to go about to day.

(02:46):
And then this one couple came in, and I don't
believe they were married. They're just a couple that were
traveling together, actually back to the area of Chicago. And
I noticed as they stood there they really needed a
cup of coffee. And I noticed that their credit cards

(03:06):
didn't work, nothing on the phone work, and God kind
of highlighted them to me, but I didn't think nothing
of it. And they went out at the Starbucks store,
and I thought they left well. As I got up
to leave and went out the door, there they stood
just talking to each other, and the lord said to
me buy him coffee, And so I walked up to

(03:27):
him and I said, I know you don't know me,
but can I buy you a coffee? I see that
you really wanted coffee. You didn't have no cash on
you couldn't buy coffee, and you know what, they let
me buy coffee. So we walked inside and we stood
there talking and she said to me, you look just
like a friend of mine in the School of Medicine

(03:49):
in Chicago, and you even sound like him when you talk.
And so she pulled his picture up and he did
look quite a bit like me. And I told her
that my partner was a medical doctor, doctor Troy Carlson,
and we were out of our healing ministry, was out
of a medical clinic, and we thought, well, you know

(04:09):
what a coincidence. And as we stood there talking, I
gave them I carry cards that have to do with
the two books that I published, Jesus in the Mountains
and God Moments. They're both on Amazon dot Com under
my name Gail G. A L. E. Kroc k R
A G. T. They're doing really well. They're both translated

(04:30):
into Spanish, they're both in an ebook, and they're also inaudible,
so you know, you can get those books. And I
got I even have a book on nine to eleven
about my work I did with nine to eleven two
weeks after the terrorist attack. So we're standing there just
talking together, and they took my picture because they wanted

(04:50):
to show their friend in the School of Medicine. I said, well,
give them, have them give me a call, you know,
so we wound up just having a nice visit. I
thought to myself, that was the best money I think
I ever spent. And I left feeling good because it
was really nice to help somebody. And sometimes, you know,

(05:11):
when you reach out in the midst of your own
situation and you do something nice for somebody else, it
has a way of lifting your spirits. We don't often
think about that because we're so caught up in our
own little box, in our own little world. That is

(05:31):
so hard to see outside that little world. Then I
remember back in twenty twenty, during the pandemic, when everybody
was trying to isolate from one another. I was at
the car wash and I was washing my car, or
I was vacuuming it out, and a lady pulls up

(05:55):
and the Lord says to me, put two quarters on
her on her vacuum. And I got an argument with God.
I said, why it's the pandemic. I don't know her.
She's going to think I'm strange, But you know what,
sometimes you just have to obey God. So I ran
up and I laid my two quarters down and she goes,

(06:16):
thank you so much, and we began to talk, and
she had just come out of a time of prayer
and fasting, and God gave me a word that she
had a son that God was going to touch and
bring back to him. She raised her hands to heaven
and said, Hellolujah, I cannot believe it. You're the first

(06:38):
person I'm talking to. And we had prayer right there
by the vacuum pump. And so you know, there are
many chances for us during the day to get outside
our box. I have a friend. He often says, Oh,
Pastor Gail, I pray that God would use me like
he uses you. And I say to him, Jim, to

(07:00):
use you just like he uses me. And you know
what I think the problem is the problem is we
missed the opportunities that are standing right in our way
that we don't see them. And so when that couple
walked in Starbucks, God highlighted them. What I mean by
that is this, they stood out to me. God brought

(07:21):
them to my attention. I didn't know why, but then
I began to watch them that they could not buy
coffee because the credit card machine was down. And so
what comes to be a hassle what I mean is
a Microsoft glitch. The credit cards don't work. What is

(07:43):
a hassle also becomes an opportunity to do something nice
in the hour of need. Now I knew this couple
needed coffee. Here's why they looked so tired, and yet
they had to drive to Chicago. Well, you don't want
to drive on the road when you're tired. I've had
that experience. That's not good. So having coffee was really

(08:07):
critical to the trip. And I know they'll never forget me.
I know they'll look up the books God Moments and
Jesus in the Mountains, and I know they'll read my
books because they're all about the Lord. You know, I
pray for you as you're stuck in your box that
God would walk up and use someone to do something

(08:29):
nice for you. I mean, I told them I was
a pastor. I felt Jesus wanted me to do this,
and so I just sat there and I did something nice.
You know, Jesus said that even a cup of cold
water would get its reward. Just think of that. A
cup of cold water offered in my name will have

(08:52):
its reward. Have you ever been really super thirsty and
someone came up to you and they handed you a
glass of ice cold water. Do you remember how great
it tasted as you drank the whole glass down practically
all at once, and then got like a brain freeze

(09:12):
because you did that. Well, you know, doing nice things
and being kind can change someone's world. Now, you know,
we're living in an election year and everybody everything is
in chaos, and you're either on the left, right, or
in the middle, and no one's getting along with one another.

(09:33):
So during this time, when we're headed toward an election
year or just after election, it's good to be doing
acts of kindness for people because not a lot of
people are doing that right now, and it's just an
exciting thing to do. So I don't always know when

(09:53):
I'm going to do something or when God's going to
have me do something. I always try to have my
eyes open, always try to be sensitive to Holy Spirit.
I don't know if you've ever done this, gone to
a coffee shop to have your coffee and just watch
people going about their day, how they come up buy
their coffee, and I look for those little opportunities to

(10:17):
do something nice. One time, I was going through the
McDonald's drive through and I came up to pay my
bill and the lady said, oh, the lady ahead of
you paid your bill already, so she paid it forward.
How nice is that? I mean, that made my whole day.
Of course I didn't have very much. I only had

(10:37):
a senior coke and a sausage muffin. But still it
was the act of kindness that she was thoughtful enough
to do something nice. It couldn't be as much as
I don't know if you've ever done this before. You've
been in going in the drive through, and boy, everybody
is trying to get their nose in to get in
the line. Hey, have you ever just set there and

(11:00):
it's your turn to get in line, but you let
another person through just to be nice to them? Hey,
even that act of kindness is extremely nice. Sort. I
have had it when I'm driving on the highway at
night and a semitruck is wanting to get in my
lane and I slow down and I flash my lights

(11:24):
and the semi truck gets in the lane, and when
he does, he flashes his lights back as a way
of saying, thank you for letting me in the lane.
You know, those are all acts of kindness, you know,
Jesus says, by this, will all men know that you
are my disciples. By your love for one another. It

(11:47):
doesn't matter where you live, it doesn't matter what country
you're in. I remember being in Honduras, being in the church.
It was odlan cheto the church in odlin Chedo. And
now remember I was in the church, and I remember
seeing this one single mom on her knees in her chair,

(12:09):
praying and crying out to God. And I felt the
Lord say to me, give her five hundred lampirams. Now
a lampium is like their dollar. Now our dollar is
worth twenty four of their dollars. So when you hear
five hundred, don't think it's a lot of money. But

(12:31):
yet it's a lot to them. And I remember walking
up to her and with a translator, giving her the
money and watching her cry, just cry, and so thankful
for the gift because she needed it to feed her family.

(12:51):
And then I had another case where someone did an
act of kindness to me. Now listen, this was pretty
big to me. So I'm in Nolin on the front
row and I'm getting ready because I'm the speaker of
the night, and all of a sudden, the glasses I'm
wearing one break and fall on the ground, and I'm like,

(13:12):
oh no, now I can't even see my notes. All
of a sudden, the lady in the church runs up,
scoops my glasses up, and runs off with them. I thought,
where's she going with my glasses? Well, she came back
because you see, she had super glue in her house.
She superglued my glasses back together and guess what, they

(13:36):
work perfectly. Yeah. It really was a really, really nice
act of kindness that someone did for me in the
mountains of Honduras, I thought, And that might seem little
to somebody, but when your glasses break and you're the
speaker and you have notes and now you can't even

(13:58):
read them or read your Bible, because a big deal
and can cause you a lot of anxiety. And so
you know, the key to success is doing little things right,
being willing to go the extra mile to do something

(14:19):
for somebody. Jesus said, if you have a friend that
goes with you one mile, go with them two miles,
and then give them the coat you're wearing. Now that
is out of the box thinking. Let me tell you
you know, I could have thought with a couple back
in Starbucks, I could have thought, for all the reasons
why I shouldn't buy them coffee. They didn't buy coffee.

(14:39):
They bought a lot of tastes. But you know what,
it's just money. But kindness in the world in which
we live in A smile and a God bless you
and Jesus loves you goes a long ways. Get out

(15:00):
of your box, break out, break out of that box
you're in. You say, well, you don't know what I'm
going through, But you know what, maybe breaking out of
your box and doing something nice for others will inspire you,
give you a new ideas and lift your spirits. And
so a lot of us we just want to stay

(15:23):
in the comfort zone. We want to stay in our
comfort We don't want to get outside of our box
because getting outside of our box is uncomfortable and we
don't like it. But sometimes if you want to see
God do amazing things, you got to be willing to
get out of your comfort zone. Now, everything that I've

(15:45):
been talking about, a lot of people wouldn't call it amazing.
But if you're the one that needed coffee and someone
blessed you and bought you coffee or did something nice
for you, you know what, it would mean a lot to you.
In my book Odd Moments, I told another story and
I'll tell it again on this program. It's called the
Two grape Juices. So when I was younger, I was

(16:08):
coming back from holl And. I was in my Camaro
and I was going down in forty about one in
the morning something like that, and that was a driving rain,
and the Lord says to me, I want you to
pick up two grape juices. So the Lord and I
begin to have a conversation. Why I don't want grape juice?

(16:30):
Pick up two grape juices. When I say pick up,
I felt that impression in my heart really strong. So
finally I decided, Okay, I'll pull over, I'll pick up
two grape juices. What's the worst that can happen. I'll
have two grape juices to drink later. So I picked
them up, put them in my center console, and headed

(16:50):
down the road toward Overisle. It was dark, it was raining,
I mean, I mean it is raining hard. And my
lights come upon a man and a woman walking and
it looks like she's drunk. I mean, she is staggering
all over and he's trying to hold her up. And
I hear the Lord say pick him up. I'm like, no,

(17:12):
pick him up. I drive by him no, pick him up.
So I turned around and by the way, I don't
recommend anyone do this. And I went back and I said,
would you guys like a ride? Sure? And they walk.
They got in the back of my car. Now my
car was really nice back then. And all the water

(17:33):
they were drenched, water all over my sees, water, water everywhere.
And I looked at him and I said, what is
wrong with your friend? And he says, well, our car
broke down and she's hypoglycemic. She needs sugar. I said,
oh God, had me stop at the truck stop and
get two grape juices for you. And I opened my

(17:54):
counsel and handed them two ice cold grape juices. He
looked at me so strange. He says, are you an angel?
I said, no, Angels don't drive kmaros. Are you sure?
I said yeah. So he gave his wife the grape
juices and then snapped her right out of it. I

(18:16):
said where do you live? He said, well, about fifteen
miles down the road. And said I'm going to take
you home. He said can we pay for gas? And
said no, no, I don't need no money for gas.
I just want to take you home. So I got
in my car, drove him all the way home, drove
up in the yard, and he looked at him and
he goes, are you sure you're not an angel? I said, yeah,
I'm really sure I'm not an angel. And so I

(18:38):
dropped him off. I turned around. I've never seen him again.
I just went I just went back and back home,
thanking God that I actually listened. I mean, look, I
don't like picking people up at night in the driving rain,
when they look drunk. I really don't like doing it.
I mean, I mean, God was really bugging me to

(19:01):
pick him up, and I was just really getting into
this whole argument with him about not picking them up.
And so, what you're gonna find in life, You're gonna
have opportunities and you're gonna miss some of them, and
that's all right. The missed opportunities become learning experiences for

(19:22):
you as you walk with Jesus. And so it's about
stepping out of your box and being nice and kind
to someone. You can do something little. It doesn't have
to be big, it can be I think a cup
of coffee is a little gesture. How about offering a

(19:43):
prayer to someone that's in need. I remember walking up
to an elderly lady that I saw on a walker
going across horrocks, and she looked like she was in
a ton of pain, and I felt the lyrics they
go pray with her, and I'm like, okay, So I
go to her. I said, ma'am, I said, I'm a pastor.

(20:05):
I know don't look like it, but you look like
you're in a lot of pain. I said, can I
pray for you? And she goes, yeah, please. So I'm
praying there right by the walk or right bed with her,
and all of a sudden, she said that her pain
began leaving her body and she began feeling better. And

(20:26):
so I was just really praising God that I saw
the opportunity. Then the next step is getting out of
your box and finding a way to act on your opportunity.
And you might be saying, well, have you ever had
anyone tell you know? Yeah, I sure have. One guy
walked into the cane. I really felt God wanted me
to pray for him, and I shared with him what

(20:48):
God was doing in Hondura's touching people, and I said,
can I pray for healing for you? He goes, no,
I don't want it. I said, all right, that's not
a bad thing, he said. But he didn't want prayer
if he didn't want Prairie didn't want prayer. But at
least I stepped out of my box, and at least
I offered it. So you know what, I'd like to

(21:10):
pray for you, that God would give you the strength
to get out of your own box to do something
nice for others in the midst of your situation. I'd
also like to hear from you. My email is share
at Healing Begins the Radio dot com. Share at Healing
Begins Radio dot com. So let me pray with you

(21:34):
right now. Lord. I pray for those that are listening, Lord,
those that have been stuck in a box for a
long time, and it's hard for them to see beyond
their own situation because of what they're going through. I
pray that you would give them the strength and the
energy to step out of their box and do something
nice for others, because that's what it's all about. I

(21:57):
pray that you would help them to see the God
upper oportunities and help them to overcome a spirit of
fear that says, don't do it. Lord. A lot of
times we're afraid to step out for how it might look.
What if they say no. So I pray for those
that are out there that you would inspire them and
give them the ability to see the opportunities that's right

(22:18):
in front of them and step out of their box.
I pray for those this morning that are hurting. Lord.
There are many hurting that are out there and they
feel like the place where they're at is very confined.
I pray that your presence and your angels would go forth,
and I pray that they would minister to those that
are hurting. In the name of Jesus, Lord, I thank

(22:38):
you for all you're doing in the name of Jesus Amen.
Thanks for joining me, for getting out of your box.
And I appreciate all the listeners. I would really love
to hear from you. Well. May the Lord bless you,
May the Lord keep you. May the Lords his face

(23:01):
to shine upon you. May He be gracious to you
and give you peace. May He help you see the
opportunities that are standing before you every day, and may
He give you the grace, the power, and the ability
to step out of your box to help another person. Remember,

(23:26):
God loves you. Healing begins is brought to you by

(24:02):
Spiritual Care Consultants located in Hastings, Michigan. At the Healing Center,
we see children and adults at no costs. We do
virtual and in person sessions. We invite you to learn
more about us by going to www dot Spiritualcareconsultants dot com.
We also value your feedback and would like to hear
from you. You can email me at Gail G. A. L. E.

(24:27):
At Spiritualcareconsultants dot com. We would like to invite you
and your family and friends to go and listen to
the past programs by going to wood Radio dot com
then click on podcast, then look for Healing Begins and
click on that. Thank you so much for being a

(24:48):
faithful supporter. May God bless you, keep you, cause us
face to shine upon you and give you peace. Thank
you for listening.