To Meet Such A Man
I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint
restaurant just off the corner of the town-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.'
Then 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 store
front 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 Daniel'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 are you headed from here?' I asked.
'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 Jeremiah, '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 bedroll 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.
Then 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, Daniel, 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.'
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
I love this! I've recieved this from others several times and it never fails to bring a fresh tear each time I read it. It's such a great testimony of the heights people can reach when called out and directed by our Almighty God. Thanx!
- BlessedMommy64
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