Tony: He never felt like he had a purpose!

We started the day recently (as we often do recently) on the top level of a parking deck in the center of Durham. It is always empty this early in the world and we can walk around the perimeters, look down on the streets of the city, and pray for God’s work in the lives of those who will walk those streets. The presence of God was particularly evident as Ron, Milton, and I prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit for this day of ministry.

I have to admit that I am very outcome-oriented. I like to "close the deal" and see people make an overt commitment to follow Christ. Today, though, was more about sowing the seed in faith and trusting God to do his own work (I suppose He can handle that). We had the opportunity to share the gospel with a number of people and, near the end of the day, God allowed us to see one of those manifestations of grace that was just dramatic.

Milton and I were sharing with some men along Queen Street between Main and Liberty as my attention was being drawn to a man lying on the ground under a tree, apparently sleeping. It’s not my habit to disturb a man while he is sleeping, but I couldn’t ignore the drawing I felt toward this man. I asked the men we were talking with if they knew him. No one did. I asked if they had ever talked with him. They never had. In fact, they weren’t sure he could even talk. One man said, "He’s just crazy. You’d better leave him alone."

I couldn’t help but think, "What would Jesus do? Would he leave him alone? Or would he love him and reach out to him?" We know the answer to that. So I walked over to the man and he immediately opened his eyes. When I saw me standing close to him, he was struck with fear and said, "What is it? What did I do? What are you doing to do?"

I answered him, "You didn’t do anything and all I want to do is be your friend. Is there anything I can do for you?"

And again he asked, "What’s wrong? What have I done?" Milton came alongside me and assured him, "We are your friends. We want to help you if we can." We asked him his name and told him ours. He continued to look at us with fear and uncertainty.

Still lying on the ground in the same position in which we found him, Tony said to us, "Why are you doing this? And we assured him that it was simply because God had send us to his side to be his friends. This was the first time a faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "Really?"

"So tell us what we can do for you." He asked if I had a car. I told him I did and he said, "Would you take me to the store?" What could I say but "yes"? So we took Tony for a ride to the store. It was a ride Tony will never forget because God allowed us to be His mouthpiece to pour His love into Tony’s life. He listened intently as we told him how God had loved him from the moment of his conception in his mother’s body, that God had never once taken his eyes off him, and had been longing for relationship with him.

As I tried to tell Tony of the immeasurable worth he had to God and how much God had focused His love on him, Tony shook his head in disbelief. Tony told us how his parents had both died with he was a small child and he was raised by aunts and grandparents. "I have never felt like I had a purpose in life," he said, "I don’t even know why I am alive. I have been close to death several times, but I always come back."

"Who do think is bringing you back, Tony? Who is it who is determined to keep you alive?"

Tony said, "I guess it’s God."

"It IS God, Tony. God wants you alive so you can fulfill the wonderful purpose He has ordained for your life." The presence of the Holy Spirit was so powerful, it was almost overwhelming. I said, "Tony, will you give your life over fully to Christ today?"

"I don’t know," he said, "I would like to, but I don’t feel it. I don’t know if I can do it." I assured him that he didn’t have to have a feeling; all he had to have was a willingness to respond to the call of God.

"This is your day, Tony," I said, "God has set this moment up for you to come to him." And we began to pray over Tony. We took him by the hand, prayed for God to remove the scales from his eyes, illuminate his understanding, and show him His incredible love. As we continued to pray, Tony began to nod in agreement. Then he began to express verbal agreement. I led him in a prayer of repentance and commitment. Tony’s voice became stronger and stronger as he prayed along with me and then he punctuated the prayer with a hearty "Amen!"

We drove Tony back to the place we first encountered him. He hugged us, thanked us profusely, and promised us that he was going to walk with the Lord. And we promised Tony that we would pray for him, have our friends to pray for him, and we would follow up with him and help strengthen in his walk with the Lord. I’ll check on him tomorrow and he has firmly promised to join us in Bible study next week.

I love the wonderful thing God is doing!