When my oldest son was all of 4 years old he never parted with his Superman costume. Every day he would beg to where it, no matter where we were going or what we were doing. For some reason I had the forethought to know this season in his life would pass too quickly and I better say yes every time. It didn’t hurt that he was adorable.
One day we were in the line at a local hardware store. He was buzzing around my legs flying like any 4 year old Superman would do. The man before me and I made eye contact, smiled, and enjoyed watching our little superhero.
The gentleman said, “Too bad we don’t really have superheros in this world.”
I blurted out before I realized, “I have one!”
You see, was not the ‘type’ to witness in a hardware store line, but something came over me and I was knee deep in a conversation that I had an idea where it was going.”
“Oh, who, our husband?” he remarked.
“Well, I think he is pretty great, but I am not talking about him.” {My back started burning. I just became a believer a few years before and it was a season in my walk that I thought you had to have a script to witness to others. It just kept coming out. I wanted to gather my words, stuff them back in my mouth, and retreat!}
He looked at me with surprise and then asked, “Your son?”
“I said actually it is Jesus.” I exploded.
I could only imagine what he was looking at in that moment. I was one of those yucky happy Christians that people are turned off by because they seem to have no problems in the world or they look like they are brain washed by Jesus. That is what I used to think, atleast. Either way, I still wanted out of the conversation and you could now visibly see the sweat rings appear under my armpits!
The man shamefully looked down at his feet with resolve. “Oh, man, I ran out of chances a long time ago with him. I have been there and done that and I lost. There is no way he would want me.”
Little did this man know, I was there at one point in my life. I felt the same way before I allowed His grace overwhelm me and allowed Jesus to be my rescuer, my hero. I was convinced I was a waste of a human and that there was no reason for me to be on this earth. I was there people.
This time, my heart leapt before I spoke. His response settled in.
I made sure I could see his eyes and said, “God is a God of second chances.”
“I need more than a second chance.” he responded.
“He is a God of second, third, fourth, fifth, ……” I said
He finished quickly with his transaction, looked at my boy, bowed his head, and walked away. I could have sworn he was choked up. I was choked up.
It was surreal. I’ll never forget that moment.
Do you need a second, third, fourth, or fifth chance? Or maybe you might get that funny feeling when standing next to someone and never say anything. I am convinced that this is the Holy Spirit saying, “I got something to say, just start the conversation.”
This post is of a 31 day series called Empower Your People. You are invited to join us and empower your people.
Today’s call: Talk to the person next to you. Just start the conversation and see where it goes.
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