My prayer for this week was that I would have a meaningful encounter with someone needing encouragement. I have many encounters where I give out food and water and pray with them, yet I always look forward to the times when the person is wanting to talk further and go beyond just the physical help. To help those who are hungry and thirsty is a tremendous boost for them, but I am always looking for that next level of encouragement, from physical to emotional help. When you get to the emotional level you have an opportunity to reach people on a spiritual level too. I guess if you are to encourage someone on this kind of level it presupposes that they are struggling in some way. Yesterday I had just such a encounter.
So earlier in the day while I was at church, the pastor happened to mention that Jesus struggled and pointed specifically to the time in the garden at Gethsemane I referred to above in verse 33. I thought it was important to see Jesus' response to this situation the night of his arrest (since he knew what was going to happen). We often see Jesus in the gospels as walking around with grace and ease being totally unflappable. He always seemed to be in control of things and never worried, yet in all four gospels we have the story of the night of his arrest where his temperament changes to one of being "distressed and agitated". This very human side of Jesus is something we can all relate too, namely worry. Jesus handles this impending and frightening future with prayer and trust in the Father's ultimate plan. We struggle with our uncertain future and struggle with temptations that, perhaps in the past, we have not dealt with as well as we should have. I meet people all the time downtown whose past haunts them and the struggles with the same temptations keep cropping up all the time. Remember the path that Jesus modeled.
I had driven around for quite awhile and had helped a few people when I drove down an alley near 14th St between Central and San Pedro Ave. I have driven down this alley many times and a homeless man named Kevin is usually there on Sundays. Yesterday was no exception. After helping Kevin and talking with him for a few minutes another man named David came walking up. David and Kevin knew each other and they seemed to exchange something that involved money. I was pretty much finished talking to Kevin at that point and so I drove on down the alley and across the street to where the alley continued on in the next block. That is where I saw Shawn. There was a woman there, but she was walking away at the time. Now Shawn and I knew each other and he seemed very happy to see me. He needed some food and water and encouraged me to stop and talk with him for awhile. I had asked him how he was doing (I hadn't seen him in several months) and he admitted to me that he has been struggling with his own weaknesses and temptations that have gone on for quite some time. I started to mention the story in Genesis about Cain and how he struggled with his attitude. I had turned around to open the back of the car up so he could get any clothes that he needed. When I turned back around he had gotten a bible out from his make-shift shelter and handed it to me to show him where the verse was in Genesis. The passage was just after Cain and his brother Abel had offered sacrifices and Abel's was accepted but Cain's wasn't. Cain was very upset about this and the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." I told Shawn that we are constantly facing decisions every day and when we have tough ones we need to think about what we know God would want us to do and speak the name of Jesus over that situation. I reminded him what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 14:11 that, "...as I live says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." I reminded him also that there is power in the name of Jesus and to speak the name of Jesus over situations since He is the Lord over all things. Jesus said just prior to His ascension to heaven that "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." This means that Jesus in the master of all situations, yet we must call on or pray to him. Once again, this is what Jesus modeled for us in his most difficult of times in the garden of Gethsemane. I shared with him some of my own struggles and pointed out a verse in James 5:17 where it says that Elijah was a man just like us and also in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah is brought to the throne room of God and he says "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.!" What these two illustrations point to is that these two "great men" of the bible were just like us and struggled with the same stuff we struggle with today,yet they prayed and sought after God and this was what made the difference in their lives. Shawn was very aware of all these scriptures and instead of feeling 'beaten down' by them, he was encouraged by them. We talked at length about some of the other 'great men' of the bible and how each of them were defined by the degree of the struggles they overcame...and so it is with us. While we talked three other people came by. The first was Dave who was the one with Kevin earlier when they had the 'exchange'. He asked for more food saying it was for a friend. When I asked what the friend's name was (so I could pray for that person) he had to think for a few seconds and finally came up with a name. Shawn and I looked at each other and kind of smiled about it. I told Shawn that I knew I get taken advantage of from time to time, but it's not unlike the grace that God extends to us that we abuse at times too. I don't get upset about being taken advantage of in this ministry. (Just don't take extra socks!) Anyway, another man came by and sat down just opposite where Shawn's 'house' was. I had just prayed for Shawn when I turned to this man and asked if I could pray for him. He put his cigarette down and came over to me and I prayed for him. When I turned to get some food for him from the car, Shawn then stopped me to pray for me! Wow! Pretty powerful moment. A few minutes later the woman who earlier had walked away when I drove up came back by. She and I started talking about the weather (it was overcast and kind of muggy) and I said it kind of reminded me of the midwest. She was from Ohio and Kentucky. Eventually, I offered her some food and water, but she only wanted the water. I asked if I could pray for her and she said quite deliberately, "Yes, you can pray for me." So I asked what her name was and she told me "Heaven". That was the first time I've ever prayed for Heaven (lol). This is a picture of Shawn with his bible.
Well, I had a few other encounters, in fact, I found Gabriel on Paloma St near Washington Blvd. He and I had talked at length once when he was living on 8th St near Maurice and Elisha. I had hoped to find him again (in fact I had prayed that I would find an old friend during this trip). It's always good to see an old friend down here. --Until next time. --John
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