At around 5:55 P.M yesterday, I sat on the edge of my bed in the act of tying my shoelaces. Next I grabbed my journal, pen, water bottle, & headphones (which I didn’t need) before packing it all into a small backpack.
Where was I going? I was going on a walk. A walk that didn’t have a planned path, destination, time limit, or clear reason. All I knew is that I had felt a tug of the Holy Spirit since early that morning telling me to go on a walk at 6.00 P.M. There were many times throughout the day I came close to neglecting this tug. I told myself how hot it was out & I didn’t want any part of it. Initially I wasn’t sure if this walk would benefit me so my interest level was subpar. The night before at 7:30 P.M, I began a period of 24 hour prayer, listening, & quiet time with The Lord. So as I gathered myself to take the walk, I figured God wanted me to take this walk as a peaceful ending to this 24 hour period.
While that thought held true, this soon became a journey that I’ll never forget.
After making my way down my front yard stairs & up the sidewalk, I decided to make a left turn that led to a familiar path I’ve grown used to taking in my car. As I make my way down the immediate uphill, downhill roadway I reached the point where in my car I would make a right turn. I felt the push to continue walking straight, which headed to a road that I don’t really travel often. I walked & I walked as I talked to God on & off, in between attempts to maintain a positive breathing pattern. I soon found myself climbing a hill we here in Bessemer, Alabama know as “big 17”. I began to recollect on my early high school football summer training days where we would be hauled to the hill by bus & forced to run sprints from top to bottom until our legs felt like noodles in preparation for the upcoming season.
Then I realized that I had never gone beyond that point on the top of the hill while being on foot, so I kept trucking. I’ve lived here all my life & the place I found myself next made me feel like a tourist. I stumbled across a bridge that overlooked the main highway that connects Bessemer, AL with Hoover, AL. I had been driving back & forward under this overpass for years & never knew about it; in fact I didn’t even realize I had been driving under an overpass at all until that moment.
At that minute, one thought played over in my head: “God wants to reveal so many things to His children, but the only way that can happen is if we pump the breaks, listen for the calling, & step outside of our own comforts”.
At this point I was just walking/basking in the unfamiliar. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was when I came to a two way intersecting road, where I had to choose between veering left or keeping straight. I chose to continue going straight because it just made perfect since to me. My journey took me around a lengthy, winding road & then down a semi-hill that lead me back to a road of familiarity. As I now write this, something just hit me. If I would have chosen to make a right at the beginning of my journey where I usually do, I would still have ended up on the same path/road of familiarity that this new route had taken me away from & led me right back to.
This reminded me of the struggles that we all often go through in life. “In the midst of turmoil we have no choice but to adapt to the new situations of unknown & walk through them boldly. At the end of the tunnel there is always light & the familiar comfort/stretched out arms of our Father waiting for us”.
After this, I started to make my way home. When I made it back to my side of town….something happened that made my heart burst (in the words of my squad-mate Ashely Cook).
At this point, it is a little after 7:00 P.M & I am about 5 minutes away from my home when I notice another African American male about to pass me with a bible in his hand. My immediate instincts told me to stop & talked to him but he beat me to the punch. He proceeded to tell me about himself & that he was actually out at the moment doing street ministry.
When I say this made me happier than going to an empty gym on a Friday night, I meant it! We began to share stories & testimonies right there on the corner of perhaps the busiest street highway here as people passed by & looked at us like we were out of our minds.
This amazing man of God (by the name of Pastor Cook) had been experiencing a period of weariness, & discouragement as he often wonders if his daily walking the streets sharing the gospel with whomever he can reach is not serving its purpose. He told me stories of how he had been cursed out by people of all ages for attempting to share the gospel with them. He has been spit on, & threatened to be beat up. Many of these things he spoke of were exactly what happened to the kingdom bringers spoken of in the bible. His story regarding his family, & pass struggles were much similar to mine. God had also called him away from the college football field just as He did me.
Little did he know, with every word he spoke I was strengthened by it. I too have been struggling lately with not knowing if the Jesus I’ve been sharing with people close to me is getting through or passing in one ear & out the other.
I heard the spirit say “God’s word will never come back void”. I relayed the message to Pastor Cook & immediately I felt the pressure & worry leave our presence.
After a half hour of conversation, he passed on his contact information, we hugged, & parted ways. I left feeling like I had known Pastor Cook for many years, not just half an hour.
I made my way home, realizing that God had not only called me out on a walk, it was a spiritual journey. My fellow brother in Christ, Pastor Cook, needed motivation & confirmation that this daily mission he has been on for the past 2 years of walking around the city sharing the gospel with the lost wasn’t going in vain. I needed motivation to know that there were others around my living environments who had accepted the call to truly step outside of comforts, die to self, & live for Christ while accepting all the hardships that will come. God led us two to cross paths in order to build one another up.
This was God only giving me a mere glimpse of the ways He will work through me & for me this year on the World Race as long as I move when He demands.
I walked away from my home a little after 6P.M yesterday with nothing but a backpack, but I returned with plenty more.
Proverbs 27:17- as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
