Three months ago, after picking green beans with a friend, I found myself praying a strange kind of prayer. "Lord, I want to pick up the next person I see walking on the side of the road." Now, I did not pray this prayer in the suburbs or within city limits; instead, I said this while winding around on a country road. As you can imagine, there was no walker to be found...until I got into town, that is.
Needing gas in the vehicle, I stopped to fill up. Of course, I spotted a pedestrian there. He was walking out of the station with beers in his bag, as I walked into the store with a deficit in my tank (and wallet). Anyways, I was on my way out of the parking-lot, when I decided to ask him for a lift. "I'll take you wherever you need to go," I said. The man replied, "Sure. I live right up here." So we were off and running--for two minutes! The shocker is not that he was so close to his destination (also known as his residence); it is the fact that he was so close to my home church. (Only four buildings east!)
Well, I could have asked him about Jesus, invited him to church, or even planned to meet up with him in the future. I did not. As though a Holy gut-check occurred, I did something amazing: I did not push the man to give a second thought to me or the God-inspired deed. Overflowing with Spirit, I offered the man green beans and squash. And then I faded into a distant memory.
((That would be the end of it, except God was not through with a miracle in progress.))
It was Wednesday, August 15, 2012, when God laid an intense burning on my heart to pray for and visit the man from three months ago. Let's call him Fred ('cause that's his name). Well, like so many of us have experienced at times in our life, I got sidetracked with my busy schedule and forgot about the prayer; God, however, did not.
It was 7:30PM on the same Wednesday, when I was compelled to pick up another man on the side of the road. (I know, "You are crazy"). Unlike the time before, I did not want to pick up the passer-by. In fact, I drove by this second man, telling God (and myself), "He will probably freak out and not want me bothering him." I even continued the self-talk, "...and it would be a waste of gas, if the man says no."
Still, by His grace, I DID turn around and go to pick the man up.
I pulled in front of the pedestrian and said, "You need a lift?" And the man said yes, right; wrong?
Rather, this second man said, "I live right up here." That is when my eyes lit up and I asked, "Do you know Fred?" Then he replied, "I am Fred." Bam! Just like that, God used a similar situation to reunite me with the man he had laid on my heart, hours earlier. A 2 minute conversation three months ago turned into a an hour-long road-side discussion, the chance for me to meet his girlfriend and 14 year old daughter, and to, finally, invite them to church.
And everything about that day--turned out for the best!
The girl is coming to our youth group, and I have not quit praying for Fred and his girlfriend.
...All of this happened, why, because of a great God and green beans?
Request:
Pray for me to interceed for the family and for the church to be a godly witness to Fred's family. Thanks.
Needing gas in the vehicle, I stopped to fill up. Of course, I spotted a pedestrian there. He was walking out of the station with beers in his bag, as I walked into the store with a deficit in my tank (and wallet). Anyways, I was on my way out of the parking-lot, when I decided to ask him for a lift. "I'll take you wherever you need to go," I said. The man replied, "Sure. I live right up here." So we were off and running--for two minutes! The shocker is not that he was so close to his destination (also known as his residence); it is the fact that he was so close to my home church. (Only four buildings east!)
Well, I could have asked him about Jesus, invited him to church, or even planned to meet up with him in the future. I did not. As though a Holy gut-check occurred, I did something amazing: I did not push the man to give a second thought to me or the God-inspired deed. Overflowing with Spirit, I offered the man green beans and squash. And then I faded into a distant memory.
((That would be the end of it, except God was not through with a miracle in progress.))
It was Wednesday, August 15, 2012, when God laid an intense burning on my heart to pray for and visit the man from three months ago. Let's call him Fred ('cause that's his name). Well, like so many of us have experienced at times in our life, I got sidetracked with my busy schedule and forgot about the prayer; God, however, did not.
It was 7:30PM on the same Wednesday, when I was compelled to pick up another man on the side of the road. (I know, "You are crazy"). Unlike the time before, I did not want to pick up the passer-by. In fact, I drove by this second man, telling God (and myself), "He will probably freak out and not want me bothering him." I even continued the self-talk, "...and it would be a waste of gas, if the man says no."
Still, by His grace, I DID turn around and go to pick the man up.
I pulled in front of the pedestrian and said, "You need a lift?" And the man said yes, right; wrong?
Rather, this second man said, "I live right up here." That is when my eyes lit up and I asked, "Do you know Fred?" Then he replied, "I am Fred." Bam! Just like that, God used a similar situation to reunite me with the man he had laid on my heart, hours earlier. A 2 minute conversation three months ago turned into a an hour-long road-side discussion, the chance for me to meet his girlfriend and 14 year old daughter, and to, finally, invite them to church.
And everything about that day--turned out for the best!
The girl is coming to our youth group, and I have not quit praying for Fred and his girlfriend.
...All of this happened, why, because of a great God and green beans?
Request:
Pray for me to interceed for the family and for the church to be a godly witness to Fred's family. Thanks.
