God works in mysterious ways

[Guest guest]

>GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

> >

> >It was an unusually cold day for the month of May.

> >Spring had arrived and everything was alive with color.  But a cold

front

from the North had brought winter's chill back to Indiana.  I sat, with

two

> >friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the

corner of the towns-square.  The food and the company were both especially

good that

day.

> >As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street..

There,

> >walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his

worldly goods on his back.  He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read,

" I will work for food. " My heart sank.  I brought him to the attention of

my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus

on him.  Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.  We continued

with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind.  We finished our meal

and went our separate ways.

> >I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them.  I glanced

toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange

visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some

response..  I drove through town and saw nothing of him.  I made some

purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: " Don't go back to

the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.. " And

so,

with some hesitancy, I headed back into town.  As I turned the square's

third

> >corner.  I saw him.  He was standing on the steps of the storefront

church, going through his sack.  I stopped and looked, feeling both

compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on.

The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an

invitation to park.  I pulled in, got out and approached the town's

newest visitor.  " Looking for the pastor? " I asked.  " Not really, " he

replied, "

> > " just resting. "   " Have you eaten today? " " Oh, I ate something early this

morning.. "   " Would you like to have lunch with me? "   " Do you have some work

I could do for you? "   " No work, " I replied " I commute here to work from the

city, but I would like to take you to lunch. "   " Sure, " he replied with a

smile.

> >As he began to gather his things.  I asked some surface questions.

" Where you headed? " " St.  Louis. "   " Where you from? " " Oh, all over; mostly

Florida. "   " How long you been walking? "   " Fourteen years, " came the reply.

> >I knew I had met someone unusual.  We sat across from each other in the

same restaurant I had left earlier.  His face was weathered slightly

beyond

his 38 years.  His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an

eloquence and articulation that was startling.  He removed his jacket to

reveal a

bright red T-shirt that said, " Jesus is The Never Ending Story. "

> >

> >Then 's story began to unfold.  He had seen rough times early in

life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.  Fourteen

years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the

beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a

large tent and some equipment.  A concert, he thought.  He was hired, but

the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those

services he saw life more clearly.

> >He gave his life over to God.  " Nothing's been the same since, " he

said,

> > " I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14

years now. "   " Ever think of stopping? " I asked.  " Oh, once in a while, when

it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling.  I give

out Bibles.

> >That's what's in my sack.  I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give

them

out when His Spirit leads. "  I sat amazed.  My homeless friend was not

homeless.  He was on a mission and lived this way by choice.  The question

burned inside for a moment and then I asked: " What's it like? " " What? "

> > " To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show

your sign? "   " Oh, it was humiliating at first.  People would stare and make

comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a

gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome.  But then it became

humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change

people's concepts of other folks like me. "

> >My concept was changing, too.  We finished our dessert and gathered his

> >things. Just outside the door, he paused.  He turned to me and said,

" Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for

you.  For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave

me drink, a stranger and you took me in. "

> >I felt as if we were on holy ground.  " Could you use another Bible? " I

asked.

> >He said he preferred a certain translation.  It traveled well and was

not

too heavy.  It was also his personal favorite.  " I've read through it

> >14 times, " he said.  " I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's

stop

> >by our church and see. "  I was able to find my new friend a Bible that

would do well, and he seemed very grateful.  " Where you headed from here? "

> > " Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park

coupon. "   " Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?

> > " No, I just figure I should go there.  I figure someone under that star

right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next. " He smiled, and

the

> >warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission.  I drove

him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we

drove, it started raining.  We parked and unloaded his things.

> > " Would you sign my autograph book? " he asked.

> > " I like to keep messages from folks I meet. "

> >I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had

touched

my life.  I encouraged him to stay strong.  And I left him with a verse of

> >scripture from , " I know the plans I have for you, " declared

the

Lord,  " plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you a

future

and a hope. "   " Thanks, man, " he said.  " I know we just met and we're really

just strangers, but I love you. "

> > " I know, " I said, " I love you, too. "

> > " The Lord is good. "

> > " Yes, He is.  How long has it been since someone hugged you? "

> >I asked.  " A long time, " he replied.

> >And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend

and

I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.  He put his

> >things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, " See you in the

New

Jerusalem. "

> > " I'll be there! " was my reply.

> >He began his journey again.  He headed away with his sign dangling from

> >his bed roll and pack of Bibles.  He stopped, turned and said, " When

you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me? "

> > " You bet, " I shouted back, " God bless. "

> > " God bless. " And that was the last I saw of him.  Late that evening as

I

> >left my office, the wind blew strong.  The cold front had settled hard

upon the town.  I bundled up and hurried to my car.  As I sat back and

reached for the emergency brake, I saw them...  a pair of well-worn brown

work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle.  I picked them up

and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that

night without them.  I remembered his words:

> > " If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for

me? "

> >

> >Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office.  They help me to see the

> >world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two

hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry.

> >

> > " See you in the New Jerusalem, " he said.  Yes, , I know I will...

> >

> >If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!  " I shall pass this

way but once.  Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I

can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again. "

> >

> >My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to

> >bless and I picked you.  Please pass this to four people you want to be

blessed as well as the person who sent it to you.  This prayer is powerful

and there is nothing attached, please do not break this pattern, prayer is

one of the best gifts we receive.  There is no cost but a lot of rewards,

let's continue to pray for one another.

> >

> >God bless and have a nice day!

> >

> > " Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies

reading this right now.  Show them a new revelation of your love and

power.  Holy spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very

moment.  Where

> >there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is

self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus'

precious Name.  Amen. "

> >

> >(I know I picked more than four, and you can, too.)

> >

> >--

> >Life is not measured by the breaths we take,

> >but by the moments that take our breath away..