Today I have watched as the Lord reached into His toolbox and chose me as His vessel of choice. What a thrill it is to be used of the Master as He goes about the work of the Kingdom.
This morning, Carol and I were talking and she mentioned that she really felt as though the Lord wanted me to spend some time in prayer at the building today. I felt much the same, as I have been wrestling through my own uncertainties over the past few days.
After having lunch with a friend I went to the building and began praying. The Lord led me to deal with some things in my life, most notably my “attitude” this Christmas. This is the first year in my life, that I have not had a Christmas tree up in my home (it is buried in a stack of storage boxes in the garage). This is the first year my wife and I have not trekked out to joyfully purchase presents for our children (finances have not allowed for it). Needless to say, I was having a bit of a pity party. The Lord; however, is always good about bringing me back to reality and today was no exception. He reminded me that I have been ministering to people this week with no roof over their heads and no source of food and no bathroom and no family and no….you get the picture. I spent time in repentance over the “importance” I have placed upon the “traditions” of our family. In reality having our family and having our Savior are simply enough.
As I finished working through that, I went into a time of silent listening. As I was listening, I heard the door open and looked up to see two men entering, removing their hats and looking down at the floor. I learned that they had been living out of a truck at one of the parks while they were doing framing work on the island. Unfortunately, the man who they were working for skipped out with their money and the Marina Patrol was threatening to tow their truck if it wasn’t moved. I offered to put gas in the truck to help them get down the road. Unfortunately, when we got to the parking area, the truck had already been towed.
Both men were horribly distraught and so we returned to the church and prayed. They asked me to take them to a co-worker’s apartment and as I was driving there, the Lord prompted me to ask a simple question: “Have you guys eaten?” I learned that it had been a number of days since each man had eaten, and so I immediately found the nearest Whataburger and ordered these men their first hot meal in days. As we were driving one of the men reminded me of this passage of scripture:
Hebrews 13:2 (NASB)
2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Tonight I picked up a man who we met on Saturday during our breakfast at the park. Sunday we were able to find him housing and Tuesday he joined us for Organic Group. When I watched him Tuesday I noticed a conflict going on in his spirit as the Holy Spirit began to move through our time together. Tonight, I asked him about the conflict and he shared a raging battle within, one side calling him the enemy of God and the other calling him a child of God. I told him that at some point in the evening I wanted to lay hands on him and pray.
As we were getting started Mike all of the sudden changed gears. He later shared with me that God told him to go no further with the Bible discussion he had planned, but instead directed him to focus us on the God’s love. As we began to talk about what God was showing us through the Holy Spirit, I again noticed the conflict welling up within this man and the Lord prompted me that I needed to pray over him. I asked him if he could tell me who Jesus was to him? He responded by giving me a historical account of Jesus, so I asked him again, “who is He to you?” He began to stammer and shift, at which point I asked him, “Are you able to say these words: ‘Jesus is Lord of my life?'” He immediately began laughing and said its hard for me to say that. He then laughed again and I asked if I could pray, to which he responded, “Do you what you have to.” As I began to speak the name of Jesus over him, he began to sigh deeply and then he began to weep. Once I had finished praying we sat in silence for a few moments, when he asked if he could pray. I said yes, but I’m going to let you pray from your heart. As he began to pray tears were still visible in his eyes and he made this profession, “Jesus you are the Lord of my life, my Savior and King.” Mike told me later that at this point his countenance had changed. We both sensed that the bondage of this man’s soul was broken this evening.
One of the things I am learning about this man is that he has never had a true friend or even a family. We will be opening our home to him this Christmas and tomorrow I am taking him fishing for the first time in his life. God could have used anyone, but today He chose me. Glory unto His name!