To God Be the Glory

At five o’clock I decided to go to the market.  I had washed both of my vehicles. The temperature was about 82 degrees.  A perfect day for my convertible, but I decided to drive the truck and get Mike, my dog, out of the garage for a while.  I drove by the park which is one city block away from the church that I attend. For my bible study class, I had an assignment to read Chapter 9.  It was such a lovely day outside that I decided to stop at the park and read my chapter under the trees of the park. I sat on my usual bench to read my lesson. It was about 5:18 PM.  After I read three pages, a young guy with a boxer dog on a leash came to the benches and asked if he could sit down. I said sure. The boy immediately started venting. He said his name was Jacob and he was 16 years old.  He said he had been bullied. He said he was pressured to join a gang which lived down the street from his house. He said his brother had joined, but he wanted no part of it. He said I have almost been jumped three times, but God has helped me through it.  He said he has prayed several times and God has seen him through. He said he didn’t know the bible or scripture but one, John 3:16. I assisted him on quoting it correctly. I told him that that scripture was on the front end of my truck.

 

We talked for a while, while I shared the word of God.  He said he was only 16, but the pressure of what he was going through had given him thoughts of killing himself.  We shared testimony back and forth about depression. We agreed that it is a silent killer and on the outside people think you are fine, but in the inside, you want to give up life.  We then agreed that the reason we don’t is because there would be no time left to ask God to forgive you for killing even it’s to yourself.

 

We talked for a while longer.  He said he felt God had sent him to that park not knowing what he would find.  He said when he sat down, he felt I was a Christian. He said that he had seen me all the time, but knew that I had not seen him.  He said he had seen me at Starbucks lots of times. Then he said that he didn’t go to church, but that he had begun to go to my church a couple of times.  He said when he would pass the church there would be something written on the marquee that had always given him something to think about. He said one day about two weeks ago it said, “God has an answer for you.”  I told him that I go to that church and reminded him that whenever you feel like coming, come in and look me up.  But don’t bring your dog Rocky. I also told him if you don’t want to come on Sunday that you are more than welcome to come to our Men’s evening bible study.  I told him that all the experiences he has had may be part of a plan that God has for you. You are only 16, but you have told me of several times God has protected you from harm.  I asked if he gave God thanks for the things he has done and he said yes. He said God had me come to this park to meet you. I said God had me stop at this park before going to the store to meet you.

 

God is Good All the Time

To God be the Glory