Years ago, my newly acquired van was acting up (it was a used one). The carburetor wasn’t functioning properly, and so I ran the battery down. Luckily, I was parked under a big oak tree in a parking lot behind McDonald’s (the area was known for its many drug dealers and thugs). Although I was hungry, I really didn’t want to eat there. I’d had my fill of hamburgers and fries. So I went across the street to a gas station for some gasoline to prime the faulty carburetor.
As I walked inside to pay the clerk, I saw him arguing with a younger man over a nickel. It seems that the young man had bought a pack of cigarettes and needed a nickel more. The clerk said, “You give me a nickel, and you can have your cigarettes!”
“I’ll bring it back, I promise; I only live down the street,” the young man said.
The clerk huffed back, “I gotta have it now!”
Obviously, the clerk had been lied to before and was tired of it.
“But it’s only a nickel, man!”
The clerk bellowed back, “Yeah, and I want it in my hand! That’s when I butted in, I’ll pay the nickel” and I fished into my pocket, paid for the gasoline, and gave the man his nickel.
“Man, what a jerk!” the young man said as we walked out together.
I turned and asked him if he knew anything about cars. “Yeah man, I can fix anything. How much will you give me?”
“We’ll see.” I was thinking, what harm could it do for him to try? Even though I could tell he was a street-smart junkie.
“Come with me; I’m parked behind McDonald’s across the street.” The young man followed me while lighting up, and he began to look at the carburetor, cigarette in hand. Meanwhile, I kept the gasoline as far from him and his lit cigarette as I could.
I hadn’t eaten lunch, and it was now suppertime, but I couldn’t bear to eat another meal at McDonald’s. We fooled around with the carburetor for a couple of hours, and by now, I was famished. Sure enough, he only wanted the money to buy drugs, and I knew that, so I preached to him about the danger of drugs and shared various Bible verses with him. He listened as he probed under the hood of the van in confusion and was surprised that I knew what he was up to. To make matters worse, I concluded that he didn’t know what he was doing in fixing the car.
I finally told him I was hungry, and we had to quit. I said, “But I really don’t want McDonald’s again today!” I had already eaten breakfast there this morning and supper there the night before, after the van broke down. But it just so happened that God had set up a meal for me. The young man invited me to his older sister’s house, where she was selling BBQ meals to help her church. (Is that a coincidence or what?) Barbecue?! Did somebody say BBQ?! Man, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some.
His sister lived right down the street and was cooking on the big outdoor grill when we arrived. There were others there, but as it turned out, they were all family members of his, a younger sister whom I thought might be in her mid-20s, another older sister, her husband, and a female cousin. There were chairs all set up in the driveway under a canopy, and I made myself at home after paying $10.00 for my highly anticipated meal.
I ate, and the others watched as the young man told them I was a preacher of sorts and that I knew of his wayward ways without him even telling me. Now I ask you, who in their right mind can’t discern something like that?
I finished my meal, and we began to make small talk, primarily about church, God, and Jesus Christ. They seem to be impressed by my knowledge of the Bible. And after an hour of give and take, I got up ready to leave, and the young man asked me to pray for him. When I finished praying for him and was ready to leave again, the young man’s brother-in-law (who had been quiet all this time, scrutinizing everything I had to say) asked me to pray for him too. He stood up and came over to me, taking off his cap as he approached. I never considered myself a man of any spiritual stature – but I did as he asked, and the man was satisfied.
I took my leave and went back to the van alone to spend the night sleeping at the back end of it in my makeshift bed with a full stomach. I thanked God for such a wonderful opportunity and meal, said a prayer for the group, and went to sleep. The next morning, upon awakening, I tapped gently on the carburetor, cranked the van over, and after a pop or two, it began purring like a kitten! So, I hit the road once again.
(The carburetor float had gotten stuck.)
God knows our every need and will provide – especially if you give Him first place in your life and do as He asks us to do. We all have gifts of different types, and we can offer them to Him. Jesus said, “Only those who throw their lives away for my sake will truly know what it means to live.” We can live dull, boring, fearful lives that don’t amount to a hill of beans, or we can live our lives with joy, peace of mind, and assurance of salvation. Then, when the time comes for us to depart, we can part with great expectation, knowing Jesus will say, “Welcome home, thy good and faithful servant!”
Incidentally, Covenant Publishing has asked me to write articles for them until they have an opening for book submissions – or so it seems. My new and second book will be finished shortly and is a tour de force. I may even go with a pseudonym or, as we say in writers’ circles, “Nom de Plume.”
YBIC
Jim Towers
You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com. You can also find me on my newly restructured website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com, which now features videos of worldwide events taking place in the present time, as well as proof of God’s existence and the reality of Biblical places, and Moses himself.