Bruce Wilkinson - The God Pocket: He owns it. You carry it. Suddenly, everything changes.

T HE G OD P OCKET
P UBLISHED BY M ULTNOMAH B OOKS
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Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Underlines in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

Every story in this book is an account of an actual event. In a few cases, minor details have been modified slightly to improve readability or to protect privacy. The concept of the God Pocket was introduced briefly in a previous book, You Were Born for This.

Copyright 2011 by Exponential Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilkinson, Bruce.
The God pocket : he owns it, you carry it : suddenly, everything changes / Bruce Wilkinson with David Kopp. 1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-60142-186-9
1. Christian stewardship. 2. MoneyReligious aspectsChristianity. 3. Charity. I. Kopp, David, 1949- II. Title.
BV772.W48 2011
248.6dc23

2011028975

v3.1

What if you could take a little something out of your pocket today that would make God visibleand then give that little something to another person you just met?

Of course, Im asking you to imagine a shocking idea, but Im completely serious.

Picture the moment. You strike up a conversation with a passerby outside a restaurant, or someone youve just met in the mall, or a newcomer in your church lobby. Suddenly you realize this is the moment. You smile at your new acquaintance, reach into your pocket, then lean forward. The other person doesnt suspect a thing. But before they know whats happening, you press into their hands the very presence and touch of our loving God.

Stay with me.

Now imagine that this person only minutes earlier had been secretly calling out to God for help, for an answer, for any shred of evidence that Heaven even noticed their crisis.

And then you showed up! There you are, placing (so to speak) an enormous ball of light into the hands of the person who has been standing alone in the dark for days. Or years.

Wouldnt that be something?

Assuming for a minute you could do such a thing, that one experience would change your life. Wouldnt it? The joy would be contagious. And youd be so lit up inside with your own happiness that everyone would notice. Years later youd still be talking about it.

And imagine the impact on the person who, out of the blue, received what you had to share. Theyd see their life and their future differently from that day on. Theyd feel very differently about God too.

This book is about a mysterious little idea thats almost too big for words. Sure, you dont exactly pull our mighty, living God out of your pocket or purse. But it feels very, very close to that. Youll see. Its happened countless times for me and for thousands of others who have said yes to the God Pocket. If youre willing to try it, youll know it was God who showed up to touch your heart and meet an urgent need in someone elses life.

And youll be in a rush to say yes to another God Pocket adventure soon.

I hope you turn the page.

H EAVEN L EANS D OWN

This God Pocket story starts at the counter of a pharmacy in South Carolina at two in the afternoon. A young husband is there to pick up a prescription for his wife. The cashier gives him back his change, then hands him the prescription. Thanks, he says, and he turns to go.

Thats when the young man freezes. Hes staring down at his change to be sure of what hes seeing. But he is sure. The cashier has returned incorrect change. Too much. A lot too much, actually.

Have you ever found yourself in such a circumstance? Most of us have.

All of this happens in seconds, of course. But heres the thing: The young husband is out of worklaid off like a lot of other folks when the economy fell apart. Its been a while now, and he and his wife are getting desperate. Then today he gets this lucky breakfinally!and its really going to help. Groceries, some breathing room, maybe a little something for his wife (he can already see her smile).

But then again

The young mans heart sinks. And sinks some more. Maam, he says. Its so hard for him to get the word out.

The cashier glances up from her next customer, wondering what his problem is.

Maam, I think you gave me the wrong change, he says.

Sure enough, she did. Quickly she takes back the extra. Sorry, she says.

By the time he walks out of the pharmacy, his heart is down in his shoes. He did what was right, but he still feels like he lost. Like hes a permanent loser. Out in the parking lot, he climbs dejectedly into his old red pickup and hands the prescription to his wife.

That little drama at the cash register? He cant bring himself to mention it.

At the same time, across town a woman is driving toward Kentucky Fried Chicken. Shes on an emergency missionto buy a bag of hot-sauce packets. Not a bite of lunch or even a drink, mind you. Just KFC hot sauce. Her name is Darlene, and shes my lovely wife (and thats how I know what happened). You see, we were about to embark on a speaking tour of South Africa, where our son David currently lives. When she asked him what hed like us to bring for him, he immediately came out with, Kentucky Fried Chicken hot sauce!

Some things you just cant explain.

At KFC, Darlene walks up to Margie, the woman behind the counter, and delivers her unusual order. Margies eyebrows shoot up. Apparently people dont often stop by for whole bags of hot-sauce packets. The manager goes in the back to fill Darlenes order, and since business is slow, Darlene and Margie begin talking. It doesnt take long for Darlene to discover that Margie is struggling financially and very discouraged.