God Can Make A New Normal

The barista called out, “Kirsten your latte’s ready.” I smiled and thanked the familiar young woman behind the counter as I grabbed my drink. This was my home away from home. Daily I came to partake in the friendly atmosphere of this coffee shop, mingle with employees and regulars, always open to meeting a new friend. Yet I never expected a homeless man.

When I headed toward the door I stopped to chat with Dan, a recently retired military officer, who occupied the comfortable leather chair on many mornings. I asked, “What do you have planned today?”

He said, “The usual,” which meant not a lot.

“You know what you should do?” Not waiting for him to answer I continued to boldly tell him to go down to the San Diego Rescue Mission to find out how he could volunteer. In the middle of my conversation the door flew open and a tall scrubby bearded man with filthy clothes and worn out shoes plopped down on the leather chair next to Dan, separated only by a small table and a different life experience.

Knowing a God encounter when I see one, I turned to the unfamiliar man slumped over and said, “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?

He lifted his head when he heard my voice, our eyes met, and he nodded with enthusiasm, “Sure. I would like that.”

When I returned with the coffee the homeless man politely thanked me for the kind gesture. Delighted to make his day I asked, “So what brings you to this community?”

And that’s when I learned his story. He had lived in this area twenty-four hears ago before his parents sold their home to move to Ohio. At the time Mark was twenty-five years old and still living at home. When his parents packed boxes to move across country Mark loaded a back-pack to walk a different direction. And he never stopped. What became comfortable became normal.

I discovered Mark knew God’s Word by reading the Gideon Bible he had stolen from a motel. Aware that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of his sin he confessed, “I like my beer, but I know God wants me to stop drinking and start helping people.” Sitting inches from him I heard the clarity of his mind, coherent of his past, and self-aware of his pride that prevented him from getting help.

I proclaimed, “God has a plan and a purpose for your life. You’re going to clean-up real well. God is going to use you in a mighty way to help others. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit when you invited Jesus into your heart. You need to start taking care of what God has blessed you with. It’s a miracle you're even alive. God has protected you all these years.”

The weathered face of this forty-nine year old man grinned under his large crooked nose and said, "You have no idea what God has saved me from,” nodding as he reminisced in his thoughts, “I'm very thankful."

Talking to this man convicted me of how much I had to be thankful for. We had taken two different paths, but God had brought us together in a coffee shop for a purpose. In awe of God I explained, "This is no accident that you walked in here in the middle of my conversation with Dan about the Rescue Mission. I recommend you go to the Mission today to check into their year long program.” I marveled at how the previous day I had viewed the website to see all the resources and pictures of what this facility offered this homeless man.

Mark sat up in his chair encouraged by my message. He said, “I have a bus pass. I can take the bus downtown.” Then Dan looked-up the address on his phone for me before he left. With a furrowed brow Mark looked into my eyes and asked, “Do you have to leave too?” disappointment filled his voice, “I thought you could hang out with me all day.”

We laughed and I said, “Let’s go outside.” As we walked toward the warmth of the sun I asked, “Can I pray for you?” He welcomed my prayer. I laid my hand on his shoulder thanking God for my new friend. I asked God to protect Mark, to give him courage to go to the Mission to get the help he needed, to be delivered of his desire for beer, and for God to use him in a mighty way. When my prayer ended I recognized how his countenance had changed from when I first met him. I asked, “Do you promise to go today?”

He promised me, but then he asked if I would be at the coffee shop the next day. I could see the war raging between what he should do and what he wanted to do as Paul talks about in the Bible. "I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway," (Romans 7:19 NLT). I insisted, “You need to go to the Mission and we’ll be in touch through my acquaintance there. He wrote her name and my name on a small piece of paper. I gave Mark a hug hoping and praying he would take the steps in the right direction for God to make a new normal.

For more information on how to help the homeless go to http://www.sdrescue.org/.

A Call To Community

What is your mat? Fear. Pride. Anger. Pain. A paralytic man had four faithful friends that carried him on his mat to see Jesus in the book of Mark chapter two. The crowded house where Jesus taught kept the men from entering the home in the traditional way, through the door, yet these men stopped at nothing. From the rooftop they lowered their paralytic friend down with ropes to be healed by Jesus. The faith of these desperate friends allowed this young man to receive the forgiveness of sin and the ability to walk by the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

When we become involved in a community of Christians we allow people to come along side us through a difficult time, to carry us on our mat, so that eventually we can help others through their struggles. God promises in 2Corinthians 1:4 that we have a God of comfort and compassion, “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

I faced the fear of unemployment, the fear of my son dying from leukemia; the pain of abandonment, date rape, and abortion; the struggles of marriage and trying to train and teach my teenagers. I was even stuck on the mat of unbelief for years. When I humbled myself, admitting my need for help, I reached out to a group of women to study the Bible. I received prayer, encouragement, and accountability that changed my life.

I realized Jesus not only sits at the right hand of God in heaven, but he is with us in our darkest hour, in our valley. We are not alone. Jesus is by our side. We must allow the body of Christ, the church, to come alongside us to experience the love of Jesus through His people.

What is your mat? Do you need the support of a community to help you through a difficult time? Or maybe Jesus has brought you through a struggle where you can be that person that comes alongside someone who is hurting. This is the time to get off your mat, to get involved in a community of Christians, to do life together. Email me to help find a Bible teaching church in your area.