As he walked up with a limp, it looked as though something was wrong. He had dark shades on that covered his eyes, and a beanie that covered his head. A thick cholo looking jacket covered his body, and he was wearing a pair of work boots. As he walked up I really didn’t know what to expect from this guy. It looked as if he had been raised in a rough neighborhood, and since the area we were reaching out to had a reputation of thugs, I was ready for anything. As he approached, I really didn’t know what to say at first but to offer him a free sausage from the sausage sizzle we were running.
With his head down, he kinda looked at me as if I was just messing with him. So had to throw out some jokes to break the ice and soften the intensity of the look he gave me. He finally budged with a smile, so I told him how we are a church group trying to bless the community. Then proceeded to ask him if he went to church, to which he said, “no”, but this opened up a conversation about how he was really struggling and going through a hard time. Me, not being content with that, asked him all about it. As he opened up more about some deep issues, I just kept giving him biblical wisdom which really made him think. At this point he took his glasses off, looked me in the eye, and said “I have a crazy story to tell, and it’s true.”
What he said next just blew my mind… I wasn’t expecting it for sure!
He said, “I must confess…” , then he went on to tell me about how he had gotten in a lot of trouble with the law and went to jail for burglary. When he was in jail God really started to speak to him and he started to read the Bible, but when he got out, and was pushed back into his old society, he found a church to get plugged into. After service one Sunday, he was standing in front of the church waiting for his brother to pick him up when an older lady offered him a ride. The lady had her purse in the back seat where he started to battle the idea of taking the iPod that was sticking out and selling it for money. He went back and forth because he had just left church and the Holy Spirit really was telling him not to do it. But at first he didn’t listen, and jumped in the car for a ride. When he got out, he snagged it and got out of the car and said, “thanks and God bless you”, and left.
From there, he immediately tried to sell the iPod to anybody who would buy it to make some extra cash, but nobody wanted to buy it so he was stuck with it. God started to speak to him so heavily that he was really uneasy about taking it and knew that he had wronged this lady on the Lord’s day. A little bit after this, his brother called him up, asking if he still had the iPod because they found out that he took it. At that point he was thinking to ditch it and lie about it but instead he started to pray. He knew he had to give it back and it was going to be hard. God really tugged on his heart in order to give him unease until he made right what he had done.
He prayed to God about this, and He said that God had given him peace about giving back the iPod. His heart changed from trying to get out of it to wanting to make things right. The lady didn’t want to see him face to face so she sent somebody to pick up the iPod. When he met up with this guy, he really wanted to see her and apologize, and let her know what God had just done in his heart. Although that never happened, he was at peace about his decision to do the right thing.
At that point he knew that God really had changed his heart and although his journey in the Lord has only been for about 6 months, he knew he was over his old life style and ready to live as a new creation. He even quoted 1 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I was able to pray for him and he walked away extremely encouraged!
God has the power to change ANYBODY! When you come to Jesus, your life will be radically transformed and you won’t want to live in your old ways anymore because you are a new, born again believer filled with the Holy Spirit.
I hope this story will encourage you to step out in faith and try to get into peoples’ lives. I know I was blessed to hear God at work in this guy. If I would have ignored him, because of the way he looked, I would have missed out on encouraging a brother who really needed somebody to talk to. We will never know, if we don’t get outside of our comfort zone. Be bold, because you have Christ on your side!
