Yesterday (New Years Day) my son and I decided to have a “guy’s night” and go see “Unbroken.” I had given him the book a couple years ago and it had a profound impact on him. Naturally, we couldn’t wait to see the movie.
The movie was awesome—I highly recommend it! There are powerful lessons about perseverance and commitment—grace and forgiveness. And wouldn’t you know it, right after the movie God gave my son and I the opportunity to see if any of these lessons actually sunk in.
Application time started within minutes of the movie ending and us getting in our truck to go home.
We didn’t see him until it was almost too late. He was dressed in dark clothing and walking way to close to traffic. Add to this the near certainty that this particular pedestrian was actually TRYING to get run over (later confirmed) and it makes for a terrifying few moments! I veered hard left at the last second and he barely even reacted! When I regained control of our swerving vehicle and looked in my rearview mirror I was again shocked to find that he still persisted on lingering where he was almost assured of getting run over! As Nathan and I were catching our breath, we tried to imagine what in the world the man was doing. Our emotions quickly moved from surprise to anger to compassion—all in less than a minute. And we weren’t more than a quarter mile past him when my son said one of the craziest things he’s ever said…
“Dad, I think we should go pick him up. I believe he needs our help.”
I remember thinking, He probably needs our money too! And his reckless disregard for life isn’t inspiring the good Samaritan in me at the moment!
Never mind that I’m the pastor in the vehicle and my son’s reaction should have been my first thought— that’s a whole other blog for another time. The point is, I trust my son’s heart. I have never met another young man who has a closer relationship with God and who is more in tune with the Holy Spirit. So it wasn’t long before his conviction became mine and we were u-turning our way into a night we won’t soon forget.
First we offered a quick prayer that we would find him unharmed and that God would use us somehow to help this desperate man. I have to admit that I offered a silent addendum that he not be an axe murderer! Then we scanned the roadside for any sign of the strange man who seemed to want to cheat death to start the new year.
Fortunately he hadn’t gone far and we found him quickly. We pulled alongside him before I realized that we really didn’t have any sort of a plan. How could we? We had no idea what his story was. This was one of those times where the Holy Spirit said to follow His lead…period. So we did.
Trust and obey.
My son, who was in the passenger seat, rolled down his window and talked to the man first.
“Excuse me sir? Are you all right? Do you need help?” Nathan asked.
He turned toward us, tears streaming down his face. “Yes, please…please help me. They took my money and left me here…” He trailed off. Nathan looked to me for what to do next.
“Sir” I began, “It’s cold out. Who took your money and where are you headed?” I asked.
After a minute or so we discovered that he had basically been robbed and left on the side of the road. We invited him in and he immediately broke into tears and thanked us. He was pretty much convinced we were angels!
His name is Jerome and he was a man hanging by a thread—a man fully intending to take his own life after being robbed and abused by those he thought were his friends. Between sobs he related his story. He wanted to reconnect with some friends from high school that he hadn’t seen for years. After partying a bit (no, he wasn’t drunk) and cruising around, they were low on gas so they “asked” Jerome for a “loan,” though it was more of a demand than a request. Jerome gave them everything he had and they said they would go get gas and return in less than 30 minutes.
That was three hours earlier.
Now Jerome found himself alone, cold, and feeling like no one cared one bit whether he lived or died. Satan was pressing hard—whispering to him that he should just end it. And Jerome was running out of reasons why he shouldn’t. Those were his words. He went on to tell us that His mother and father were both dead and that he had no one. He had spent some time in prison recently for misdemeanors—paid his debt and desperately wanted to make something of his life. But first he just wanted to know if he had any friends left in this world.
The answer seemed to be, no.
That’s when God told Nathan and I to be a light in his dark life.
For the next hour or so I told Jerome that this could either be the first day of the best days of his life or the bitter end to a sad and lonely life. The choice was his. But I wanted him to know that God sent us to tell him in no uncertain terms that he was loved and God would help him if he reached out in faith. Then we shared the most powerful thing on planet earth with our new friend…
The gospel.
One hour after nearly ending his life, Jerome prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!
He prayed in tears. He prayed in brokenness. Jerome had come to the end of himself and that’s good news! The end of you and me is the beginning of God!!
The change was immediate. And Nathan and I got to witness the greatest miracle on earth—an individual being born again!
And I got to witness something else.
When Jerome shared about his “so called, friends” stealing his last fifty dollars, my son logged that number away. So did I, but I only had five dollars on me so I never gave that part another thought.
After an hour together praying, dreaming together about heaven and our great Savior and giving Jerome some “next steps” as a brand new believer—we left the waffle house we had gone to. It was nearly 2:00 in the morning and Nathan and I were rejoicing about our new brother in Christ. There was only one thing left to be done as far as Nathan was concerned.
“Dad, do you have any money? We need to help him out—put feet to our faith.” I agreed but told him I only had five dollars. “That’s okay, I have some money too.”
Then my son—who works at Chick-Fil-A for minimum wage—emptied his wallet and combined his cash with mine and went back into the Waffle house to give it to Jerome.
As we drove home I asked Nathan how much he gave.
“All of it, dad. I gave him everything I had.”
“And what was that?” I gasped.
“Forty five dollars.” He smiled.
Combined with my measly five, Jerome had his fifty dollars back.
And I had a moment with my son that I will never forget.
* What’s God showing you for 2015? Join the conversation below by leaving a comment.