This past fall, the pastors at my church gave a series of sermons related to Stepping Out in Faith: being willing to allow God to use us in ways that we have not permitted Him to use us before. The following account is a great example of stepping out in faith!
One day recently I sat down for lunch with "Robert". He mentioned that the past sixteen months have been the longest he has remained in one location for a long, long time. I asked him where he had lived before he came to Water Street and how he came to be living here. He told me that he had been picking watermelons in North Carolina and decided that he would move on to Florida to visit some of his relatives there. As he walked along the highway heading south, a trucker pulled off the road and called out to him, “Are you broken down?” "Robert" was confused about what the trucker was asking him, until the trucker pointed to a rig parked along the road. The trucker thought that "Robert" was the driver of that rig, and that he was walking to get help. "Robert" explained that he just happened to be walking in that area, on his way to Florida. The trucker invited "Robert" to ride with him, as he was delivering his load to Jacksonville.
As the two men headed south, the trucker evidently realized that "Robert" needed an important change in his life, one that only the Lord could provide. He offered to take "Robert" to a place where he could get his life straightened out, and told "Robert" that he didn’t need to make an immediate decision, but to think about it as they traveled together for several hours. The trucker was from Lancaster County and explained that he himself had gone to the Water Street Rescue Mission about five years earlier and had become a new person in Christ.
As "Robert" thought about this offer, he imagined that this trucker was an angel of the Lord, holding open the door of Heaven for him. How could he refuse such an opportunity? He decided that, “Yes! I will accept this offer.” After visiting his relatives in Florida, "Robert" was picked up by the trucker, and together they headed to Lancaster. The rest is history. "Robert" is now walking with the Lord in newness of life. He is engaged in the Christian Life Development program and recently started a new job.
One day recently I sat down for lunch with "Robert". He mentioned that the past sixteen months have been the longest he has remained in one location for a long, long time. I asked him where he had lived before he came to Water Street and how he came to be living here. He told me that he had been picking watermelons in North Carolina and decided that he would move on to Florida to visit some of his relatives there. As he walked along the highway heading south, a trucker pulled off the road and called out to him, “Are you broken down?” "Robert" was confused about what the trucker was asking him, until the trucker pointed to a rig parked along the road. The trucker thought that "Robert" was the driver of that rig, and that he was walking to get help. "Robert" explained that he just happened to be walking in that area, on his way to Florida. The trucker invited "Robert" to ride with him, as he was delivering his load to Jacksonville.
As the two men headed south, the trucker evidently realized that "Robert" needed an important change in his life, one that only the Lord could provide. He offered to take "Robert" to a place where he could get his life straightened out, and told "Robert" that he didn’t need to make an immediate decision, but to think about it as they traveled together for several hours. The trucker was from Lancaster County and explained that he himself had gone to the Water Street Rescue Mission about five years earlier and had become a new person in Christ.
As "Robert" thought about this offer, he imagined that this trucker was an angel of the Lord, holding open the door of Heaven for him. How could he refuse such an opportunity? He decided that, “Yes! I will accept this offer.” After visiting his relatives in Florida, "Robert" was picked up by the trucker, and together they headed to Lancaster. The rest is history. "Robert" is now walking with the Lord in newness of life. He is engaged in the Christian Life Development program and recently started a new job.
The Lancaster trucker, although out on the road all week long, occasionally checks in with "Robert" to see how things are going. He has invited "Robert" to visit in his home and has taken him along to his church. "Robert"’s life is definitely headed in a different direction than it was the day that he met the trucker along that North Carolina highway! And that’s because of the Christ that he met at the foot of the cross!
Praise the Lord for the trucker’s willingness to step out in faith and allow the Lord to use him in an unexpected way!
-Ron Pawling, Business Office
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