(I share this story not to brag or suggest how holy I am, but to share an example of how God responds when we ASK, SEEK and KNOCK and are READY.)
Recently, I offered to take my wife out to breakfast. We had just finished our morning prayers, which included “nudge us when there is an opportunity to share your (Jesus’) love with someone”. We planned to go into town, which required a right turn at the end of the driveway. As we reached the end of the driveway, we both felt compelled to go left to a restaurant twice the distance from our home. Soon after heading in that direction, we noticed a teenage boy walking on the side of the road wearing only a t-shirt and jeans. We knew something was wrong, so we stopped and spoke to him. We saw that he was also crying. We invited him into the car and offered to drive him wherever he wanted (he commented his mother said he should not accept rides with strangers). We chatted a little in the car as we went to his destination, approximately 40 km from where we picked him up. He would not have gone far in the winter conditions.
When we arrived at his friend’s house, he insisted we drop him off and he’d be OK. He jumped out, poorly dressed, to knock on his friend’s door. We waited a few minutes, but no one answered the door, so we offered to take him to breakfast with us, and he accepted. I also gave him an extra coat I “happened” to have in the car.
As we ate, we chatted and found out he had argued with his mother and left the house. He was very emotional and took off without a coat or a plan. He was a very polite young man who did not speak ill of his family situations. We reminded him that he was loved, even though it may not seem like it when arguments occur. We purposely dragged out the meal, hoping he would accept our offer to drive him home or call his mother at a minimum.
After breakfast, we drove back to His friend’s house, and after noticing fresh tracks in his friend’s driveway, we left him. We gave him our cell number on a slip of paper and told him to call us if he needed assistance. After one last attempt to get him to call his mother, we drove home. As we drove home, we felt uncomfortable leaving him but reminded ourselves that we had prayed, placing him in God’s hand to look after him – and how we trusted that prayer.
My wife and I spoke later that day about the situation, going over how we had prayed differently that morning, how we had been nudged to turn left, encountering the young man, having an extra coat in the car, and having an opportunity to talk and care for him for over an hour. We praised God for looking after him.
The story didn’t end there; later that day, the young man called to tell us he was at home and thanked us for looking after him. His mother then spoke with my wife and thanked her for caring for her foster son. The tracks we had seen in his friend’s driveway were from her and a police cruiser who were looking for him. She ended the conversation by sharing that she knew us and praised God for sending His children to look after her child.
ASK, SEEK and KNOCK and be READY