“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
One night at training camp, I had a vision of myself walking across the street towards a homeless man in a town near me. It was obvious that God was asking me to do what He was showing me. Go and talk to a homeless person when I get home. Not wanting to do this, I just pushed it to the side and forgot about it.
A few days after being home, I went tothat town to run a few errands. On my way there, I saw a homeless man standing in the same spot that I had been given a vision about. My heart immediately started racing but once again, not wanting to do it, I pushed it to the side. The entire time I was out, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. As I was finishing up, I got a text from my mom saying she needed me to get home. “Guess it wasn’t meant to be”, I said to myself.
Just as I passed back by him on my way home, I received another text from mom. It said “Never mind, got it all figured out!” And there it went again…my heart beating 100 miles per hour. It was like I could see God sitting in my passenger seat with a “What did I tell you?” or “Whatcha gonna do now?” smirk on His face. I laughed and said out loud “Okay, God, fine I’m tuning around!”
I turned around and pulled up beside him. I asked if I could come over and talk with him. “About what?” he asked. And honestly, I didn’t know. All I knew is that God was asking me to talk to him. So naturally, I replied with “I don’t quite know yet. I guess I just want to get to know your story if that’s okay with you!” He was very hesitant at first, but agreed.
I parked my car at the closest parking lot and walked across the street to meet with him. (for the grandparents reading this, YES I was in a very public place in broad daylight lol) He asked again what it was I wanted to talk about and what the benefit of it was. “You writin’ an essay or somethin’?” I replied with the truth and that was that I felt like God was pressing him on my heart.
He introduced himself like this: “Well then, middle names Craig, last names Crook, first names Christopher. What are the first six letters in my first name?” Craig then went on to tell me about his life and his relationship with Christ. We talked for about an hour and a half before he said he needed to get going. After a short prayer, we parted ways. I see him every time i pass by the area I met him in. He always greets me by name with a smile.
I left the conversation confused. I thought, “Why did God ask me to go and talk to him if it wasn’t to tell him about Jesus? He had more of the answers than I do!”
It took me a few days to realize what I think God was trying to show me. He had to ask me more than once to do what He wanted me to. He asked me so many times to go and talk to him and I immediately decided that it made me uncomfortable and I didn’t want to do it. So, I pushed it to the side. Talking to Craig made me realize how often I tell God no. Basically what God said to me is “You chose to say yes to me. A life that follows me is generally uncomfortable and unsafe. If you want to follow me, you are going to have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.” That was a big smack in the face with the humble stick.
God reveals things to us in crazy ways. When He asked me to go and talk to Craig, I assumed He was going to use me to help him, when really, I think he was using Craig to help me. I realize that on the World Race I am going to be majorly taken out of my comfort zone. I realize that even once I am back from the race, God is going to take me out of my comfort zone. I realize that there are going to be times when I have to chose whether I say yes to God or yes to my comfort.
Acknowledging that I cannot have them both, I am deciding that I am going to give full habitation rights of my heart to God as opposed to comfort.
“My God is good but He’s not safe.” -KB (song “100”)
