About a month ago, the week before Christmas actually, God gave me the opportunity to demonstrate His love in a very tangible way. I only had a half-day at work and was giving one of my co-workers a ride on my way home. We were stopped at a red light and in the median there was an older man with a sign that said “hungry 🙁 .” I immediately felt a prompting to help the man somehow, but I couldn’t reach my wallet at the time and the light was getting ready to turn green. As I continued on my way to take my co-worker home, I debated whether I should go back, but the prompting that I had felt was only getting stronger, so I went back after I dropped my co-worker off and the man was still there.
I went over and introduced myself and asked him if I could take him out to lunch. He said he had already eaten, so I asked if there was anything else he needed. He said he needed some clothes and was trying to raise enough money for a bus ticket to get back to New York where he had some family. So I offered to take him to get some clothes, and on the way to the store, I was able share my personal testimony with him. I found out that he was staying in a small room in the back of a little diner owned by an older lady he knew. I also found out that he still needed about $90 for the bus ticket. He got a coupe shirts and shorts at the first store, but I had to go to a different store to get money back. I got back in the car and handed him $100. On the way back to where he was staying, every other sentence out of his mouth was “Thank you God” “Thank you Jesus”. When we got back to the diner, he had me come in and introduced me to a few of his friends as “my friend, Mr. Nick”. A little formal for referring to some 30-40 years younger than you, but hey. And then, HE bought ME a bowl of soup! Here this guy is with only a few dollars in his pocket and he’s buying me lunch.
I’m not telling this story to brag on myself. Far from it. The only reason I was able to reach out to that man was because of God’s amazing grace and love in my own life. I was not born as a social butterfly. So for me to walk up to a perfect stranger (especially one that’s 2-3 times older than me) is only because of God. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be doing that, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But with God empowering me, I was able to do something I would never have expected out of myself. I’m expecting God to do some really crazy-powerful stuff on this trip, both in and through me individually and us as a team, that we never expected we would do. Can’t wait! Oh and to brag on God some more. Later that week, I received an unexpected Christmas bonus for guess how much….$100!!
“With God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26b
