Tegucigalpa, Honduras
“So you’re saying that your sin is more powerful than God??”
We had gone outside to have team time, but before I knew what was happening I found myself arguing with Rony.
Although his brother and sister live at Zion’s Gate with Tony, it is different for 19 year old Rony. He comes and works at the property, but he always returns to Los Pinos because that is where the drugs are at.
While we were talking outside, one of Tony’s friends pulled up in a monster of a truck. His question about scheduling only took a few minutes to answer, but when he hopped back in his truck it refused to start.
My team and I watched Marc open the hood and attempt to start it for awhile before it hit me that this is what we had been asking for. We had been asking God for faith stretching opportunities, so we gathered around the truck and began to pray. Rony asked me what we were doing and began to laugh when I told him. He thought it was absolutely ridiculous and began to joke that the poor truck didn’t feel well and needed our prayers. I simply smiled at him and silently pleaded with God to prove himself to Rony in that moment, but the engine still refused to start. I stood there at a loss as Rony continued to joke. I finally turned to him and said, “I think you need to pray for the truck.”
His eyebrows shot up, “Yo (Me)??”
“Y porque no (and why not)?” I asked.
“You don’t understand,” he said. “You go to church and you talk to God everyday and you read your Bible, so it should be you that prays. I used to walk with God too, but not right now. I can’t walk with him because I have the problem of drugs in my life and that is a sin, so I can’t say prayers like this, because I have sin in my life.”
“I think that God can still use you, Rony.”
“No…there is too much sin in my life right now.”
“So you’re saying that your sin is more powerful than God?”
Rony laughed and looked down at his nervously shifting feet, “Well….no….”
“Then what is stopping you, Rony?”
“Wait, wait, wait…you don’t understand.”
“I’m listening Rony.”
This went on for quite a while until Rony admitted that God is more powerful than any sin that he may be living in, so although he was scared and embarrassed, he finally agreed to put his hands on the truck and pray. The prayer that he then uttered was simple and beautiful.
“God…you are the God that makes it rain and you are the God that makes the sun rise and I know that if you wanted….if you wanted you could make this truck start. So God…if it is true that you love me, make this car start….please.”
Marc turned the key and the truck started immediately. The rejoicing that followed was something altogether beautiful.
Rony shared this story with all of us later that day and admitted that when he saw the bus coming that morning he heard two voices. One voice told him to leave the bus stop and go sit with his friends to smoke marijuana and the other voice told him that he really needed to get on that bus and come spend time with us. The joy was evident on his face as he said, “I made the right decision.”
The Lord does indeed love Rony. 🙂
