Invited Into God's Story

I enjoy reminding people that “all of our days were written in God’s book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 139:16), and “God prepared beforehand good works for us to walk in” (Eph 2:10). I say it a lot because I know it’s true and it keeps me alert, looking for God in the everyday. He’s always working, and that means there’s always something to discover. But am I searching, especially with the promise that “those who seek will find?" Choosing to enter in and participate with God is our job, even if it’s not convenient. 
 
Dave, a friend of mine, was traveling recently to West Palm Beach to attend his son’s college graduation. He was relieved to see that the seat next to him was empty, so he crossed his fingers, relaxed, and took out his laptop. He wasn’t much in the mood for conversation. 
 
Shortly thereafter, a disheveled-looking man with a small plastic bag came down the aisle and motioned for the seat next to him. Politely, but disappointedly, he got up and let the man cross over and sit down. As he settled in, he seemed nervous, breathing deep, looking around, and fidgeting.

“So, do you fly much?” Dave asked.

“Nope, hardly ever, maybe twice in my whole life. I’m pretty nervous, actually,” he said.

Dave thought to himself, I don’t really want to talk, but I’ll be nice. “Well, just try to relax, it’s real easy; where are you headed?”

“West Palm Beach,” The man said.

“Really, me, too. The flight is only a couple hours; it will be over before you know it. Are you meeting family?”

The man said, “No, actually I don’t know who I’m meeting, it’s all so crazy.”
 
Something odd was going on. This guy looked out of it, even panicked. So, Dave decided to listen, “What’s going on?”
 
“My name is Harry. I have a consuming cocaine addiction and I think I’m on my way to a treatment center. I live in Connecticut and work in a machine shop. People have no idea I’m an addict, they just think I drink too much. I woke up this morning on the floor of a crack house, something I’ve done every weekend for years. It’s killing me, but I can’t shake it. Everything feels hopeless. When I looked around the house this morning, I saw a bunch of people strung out just like me. I was just sick of it.
 
“I glanced up at a large screen TV that had been going all night, and that commercial for “drug addiction help” had just come up. I don’t know why, but I called the number on the screen. I told the guy on the phone where I was and that I wanted help. After a short conversation, the guy on the line said, ‘Go outside, don’t take anything with you, and an Uber driver will be waiting to take you to the airport. We have an airline ticket to West Palm Beach waiting for you and the phone number of our treatment center. Just get in the car and we’ll take it from there.’  So, I went out front and, sure enough, there was a car. So, I got in, and here I am, freaking out.”
 
Dave was stunned. Was this for real? 

Turns out that Harry was legit. After a few hours of non-stop talk on the plane, Dave learned that Harry had left everything, and told no one, on the promise of help from a TV ad. His $900/weekend habit was killing him and he was sick and tired of it. He could somehow function as a technician in a machine shop during the weekdays but spiraled Friday to Sunday. In fact, he would cash his check and lock a portion of it in his tool box to keep himself from blowing it all on drugs all weekend. He had nothing except his ID, a phone, and what he was wearing. 
 
Dave took the opportunity to encourage him, telling him the truth about who God says he is, a conversation that felt directed from above. Eventually it came around to faith. “Where are you with your faith?” asked Dave. “Huh? What do you mean?” Dave shared some of the incredibly painful history of his own life and how hope and freedom were found when surrendered his entire life to Jesus. Harry listened with rapt attention for a long time. He later said, “No one has ever talked with me like this before, this may be the deepest conversation I’ve ever had.” 
 
Still sharing as they exited the plane, Dave asked, “Harry, do you want Jesus to give you a new life?”

“Yes, I do,” he said.

Dave told him, “The Bible says, if you confess your sin to Jesus, He will be faithful to forgive and make you clean.”

With deep sobs and tears, right there in the terminal, Harry repented, gave his life to Jesus, and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Harry said, “What’s going on? I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good,” trying to describe the feeling of warmth, joy and lightness he was experiencing inside and out.  
 
Like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day, so was the light that touched Harry’s heart. Dave had been invited into what the Father was doing in an amazing way.
 
They waited together as Harry called the number. He was given the same instructions, “Just get in the car and we’ll take it from there.”  Minutes later, a driver with his name on a message board pulled up to the curb and opened the door. 
 
Exchanging phone numbers, Dave prayed for him again, and then Harry stepped into the car and off to the treatment center. At the center, there’s no outside contact allowed for 30 days, but Dave hopes to connect as soon as he’s able. 
 
Most of us wake up each day with no expectation of participating in God’s story. But He’s always working, always speaking. 
 
Perhaps He’s saying to you, “Just get in the car, I’ll take it from here.”

Whose story are you participating in?