Encountering Jesus in a Grocery Store

Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash

I was having a day where my mind and heart felt disconnected. I knew the truth—His body broken, His blood poured out, so I can be in communion with Him—but my heart was wrestling to believe it in the moment. 

It was no more than an hour ago when I had partaken in communion with other believers that my heart had already forgotten. I was feeling far off from His presence. The Father seemed silent and distant.  I felt alone—stuck in my thoughts and questions. 

I was heading home, but first I had to stop by the grocery store. I just wanted to get in and out of the store as quick as possible, so I was headed to the produce section on a mission when I was stopped right in my tracks. 

Right in front of me, there was wine spilled out all over the floor from a wine tasting booth. To everyone else, it was just a “clean up on aisle 9” moment, but for me, it was more. 

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:26-28 NKJV

I just stood there for a minute and took in the spilled wine. I noticed the glasses filled with grapes on the table, and my mind began to be filled with many parables in the Bible. But, I also just kept hearing the phrase being whispered to my spirit—my body was broken and my blood was poured out for you (Matthew 26:26-28). 

And in that moment, my heart remembered. 

Not just the words being whispered in the wind, but the truth being written upon my heart. 

I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit surrounding me. How Jesus’ blood has brought me near and that I’m not far off. The Father’s love and grace is always reaching out toward me. 

It was just those few seconds in a grocery store aisle that my heart was connected to the Father’s heart. Just like the broken wine bottle, the hard places in my heart began to break and be covered in the blood of Christ.