The airport is one of my favorite places in the world.
Think about it… You plant a seed in someone’s life, they get on a plane and share that same seed in another place around the world. You could plant a seed that is going to China, India, Washington, New York… the possibilities are endless!
Most of the time I don’t have to go seeking people out in the airport. The Lord just drops them off in front of me and asks me to start talking about Him.
The other day I met a guy named Pete. I was sitting at the charging table in the Fort Lauderdale airport and this man sat across from me. He asked to share the charging port and said, “where are you headed?” I told him about my last year and his face lit up when I started to talk about Jesus. Then this simple question led us into an hour long conversation:
“What’s your story?”
Pete grew up in and out of the streets. He got into hard drugs at a young age and got his girlfriend pregnant twice when he was a teenager. They gave the two kids up for adoption and went on about their life. Finally, around 30 years old, his life got so dark and so miserable that he cried out to the Lord for a way out. The next thing that happens is crazy.
Jesus showed himself to Pete in a vision!
He was sitting outside in a park and all of a sudden he saw a bright light and a man in the sky. He immediately knew it was Jesus and he knew he needed to change.
He checked himself into a rehab center and over the next year the Lord transformed his heart. He quit drugs cold turkey and he never had withdraws or any side effects.
After Pete got out he met a woman who loved Jesus and they fell in love. They began to adopt kids from the inner city and do everything they could to keep kids from living the same life Pete did.
Around 40 years old Pete’s two kids that he gave up for adoption found him. They met and God reconciled everything in their relationships. Pete got to meet his grandkids and introduce this lost family to his new family.
Pete is now in his 60s and he is still running after the Lord. God has transformed the life of this man and brought him from glory to glory over the years.
“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27
These are the people the Lord loves to use. If you feel like you are too far gone, or if you have family members and friends who are “too far gone,” remember that those are the people the Lord will use for his glory. Jesus paid for EVERY life. I don’t care if you are the Pope or a drug addict in and out of jail… you were created to be a child of God. You were created to be loved.
We need to start telling people who they are, and stop telling them who they are acting like.
A person who does drugs is not a drug addict. They are a child of God acting in their flesh. They just need an identity check.
For the people who have lost loved ones to drugs, or have loved ones who are currently addicted, I hope this testimony gives you hope. No one is ever too far gone and I join you in praying for transformation in their lives.
For the people who judge the drug addicts, I hope you realize that love is what transforms them. Condemnation is not. Our churches should be filled with drug addicts because they are the type of people Jesus is going after. Next time you sit down next to someone who is lost, don’t stick your nose up at them. Look them in the eye and tell them they are loved.
