Yesterday Sam wandered into our gathering. In the midst of our discussion around the great “Why?” of God from Psalm 67, I asked this question: What does God’s blessing look like in your life?
After some blank stares, Sam speaks up and begins to tell his story.
He replies: “God’s blessing looks like salvation to me.”
With that Sam begins telling about how he has been homeless for 10+ years. Friday night he had been standing on an interstate off ramp in Knoxville with a sign looking for handouts when a man stopped and offered to buy him a meal at the Waffle House.
While at the Waffle House, the man who picked up Sam, began to tell him of the grace of God and Sam said “I don’t know if anyone has ever gotten on their knees and prayed for God’s forgiveness inside a Waffle House, but God saved me Friday night.”
After this man and Sam parted ways, a woman pulled up beside him in her car as he made his way to bed down for the night and handed him a bag with fresh clothes, shoes that happened to be his size, some razors, a coupon for a shower at the nearby truck stop, and a Gideon’s Bible.
Sam said describing this: “God just kept on blessing me.”
He took a shower and made a phone call he had been wanting to make for 10 years. Sam called his mother in Wyoming. Sam’s mother answered the collect call and before he could begin to tell her of his recent salvation, Sam’s mother already knew before he called because, as she told him “I have been praying for you.”
God didn’t stop there. After getting off the phone with his mother, Sam vowed to be in sitting in church with his mother next Sunday. He met a trucker who dropped him off beside our space this morning who also agreed to pick him back up after being loaded and take him as far as Nebraska with him.
Sam said: “God has blessed me today with this church. I walked around and saw some of the large church buildings, but felt like I could never walk into them. Thank you for being here.”
God saved Sam in a Waffle House, so I guess Sam could fit in a church in a coffe shop.
I’m glad we could be the body of Christ for Sam today.
God’s speed to you Sam.
We are praying for you and the life in its fullest that Jesus has in store for you. I cannot wait to see you again one day and here the story of you sitting beside you mother in church Sunday.
Sounds like a story from the Bible. Awesome. Challenging to me that my life, my church’s life, THE church’s life, should be full of stories that sound like they came from the Bible.
It was an awesome experience to sit next to Sam while he shared his salvation story. If every Christian (including me)would reach out to the lost whenever the opportunity presented itself these blessed events would become commonplace. Its the duty of every disciple of Christ to do this, not just pastors and missionaries.