In 2006 Mike and I had something happen to us that we will always remember and I wanted to tell you about it, as a reminder that sometimes God puts us in the right place at the exact right time.
You see we lived in El Passo Texas and we were both wanting something to drink, so we decided to walk down to the corner store. It was somewhere around 10, 11 at night. We had made this trip a million times before, but this time as we were walking in, there was a guy on the phone, and he was screaming, and yelling we naturally wanted to get in and out, and avoid the situation.
Well, we made it out of the store drink and snacks in hand, and made it about half way across the parking lot when I destinctly heard the guy yell loud enough that anyone who was there at the time could have heard him, “mom, I don’t have anywhere else to go!” Well, this changed everything, you see right after that, I heard the voice of the Lord tell me you have some space, you can let him stay the night. I looked over at Mike about to say something, and he said “I just heard the Lord tell me You have some flore space”
Well, that settled it, not only did God tell me what he wanted, but he confirmed it with my husband.
I was not planning on having a house guest, but aparently God had other plans. So, we approached the guy on the phone, and offered to give him a place to stay. As it turned out he had just come down off a crack high and he needed a lot more than a place to stay, he needed help, the kind only our Lord can offer. We talked to him, fed him, and told him about the Lord, then prayed. I can honestly say that as Mike and I went to sleep that night, we were praying to God this guy wouldn’t kill us in our sleep or something.
I wish I could tell you that this story had a happy ending, and that he is now all better, honestly I don’t know what happened to him, you see we took him to a home that helped people get off the drugs and any other adictions in their life, but he did not stay. He was not ready to receive the help that was offered him at the time, and so he left.
Why do I tell you this story? Not to earn our own glory, but because this is a perfect example of what can happen when you are used by God, he will make cool things happen. Was our letting Jake stay the night a bad thing? No we were serving the King, and that is never a bad thing. And who knows, he may have come to Christ later in life, I don’t know.
What I do know, is that we were at the right place at the right time, and if you are willing to be avelable, God will do the same kind of thing with you. Maybe, its not letting someone stay the night, maybe, its just handing out a cup of cold water, or a bite to eat. Maybe, its offering a smile and a encouraging word to someone who needs it. The point is, when you do something, do it as if you are doing it for the Lord.
Jesus even spoke to this, when he said these words. “When I was hungry you fed me. When I was thirsty you gave me something to drink, and when I was in prison you came to visit me.”
Lets make the choice, and go out and do what we can for our Lord.
