Encounter At Dollar General

Romans 2:4 (Message Bible)
In kindness He (God) takes us by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

Can't hide from it...
Can't run away from it....
It is everywhere.
Drove to Dollar General late yesterday afternoon to pick us some items.
Moving up and down the isle, my thoughts were on tonight's message. I have a tendency to run Scripture over and over in my brain, asking the question, "What do you want to come from these verses, God?"

"Brother Mike!" the voice cut through the other sounds of the store.
Looking up and toward the direction I heard the voice, I saw him.
Didn't recognize him at first.
In fact, earlier in the day, Ann Wynne and I were having a conversation and she mentioned that she'd recently seen this individual. She told me that we needed to pray for him because he was in really bad shape.

The person I saw did not resemble the man I knew.
Recently punched holes in his belt only cinched up his pants tighter than they should have been. But that is what happens when you lose weight. One of the saying in treatment was that "You came into treatment with your back pockets touching." In the case of this man, it was true. Face sunk in.....missing teeth.....eyes had no life to them. He made his way toward me, smiling as best he could. "Man, it's good to see you", I said. I reached out and wrapped him in a big ol' bear hug. Sometimes when you hug someone you can judge where they are in life by the way they receive it. In this case, the response from my hug was "Save me." He wanted to be free from this devil that controlled his every waking moment, and filter nightmares into his sleep. 

I asked how he was doing, hoping for an honest response, but the addictive defense mechanism kicked in. "Man, I'm doing great!" Funny how this game is played out. Now this man knew that his physical appearance, his walk and speech were dead give away's that he wasn't o.k., but we play the game anyway. I told him that I was glad to see him, but he didn't look o.k. . He assured me that he was, in fact life was better than it had ever been. I asked him if he was clean. "Yes, I am!" then he went on to give me an extended explanation of his clean time. In the end, he didn't even believe what he'd shared with me. 

I told him about Vineyard ReCovery and invited him to come and visit with us. He assured me that he would be there tonight. I hope he does show up. We parted ways and he left in a car that seem to have seen to many miles and not enough maintenance. Sputtering and belching smoke, the car pulled out onto highway 77 and faded into the distance.

I paid for my items and went to my car.
Sitting there, I prayed for this man.
Hard prayers.....asking God to corner him before he dies.
To arrest him if need be so he can get some help.
Prayers for the hardness of addiction that keeps one from hearing or seeing truth would be broken off by the message of the cross.
The cross.....in death, it is a place of freedom and life.

This morning, as I sit here typing this post, I wonder where this man is. Does he have food to eat? Does he have a roof over his head? I'll never get use to the power of darkness that can suck the life out of an individual. I'll never stop praying for, or loving those who are trapped in the bondage of addiction. 

Romans 8:5-8

Those who think they can do it on their own end up 

obsessed measuring their own moral muscle.

but never get around to exercising it in real life.

Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit

is in them, living and breathing God!

Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end.

Attention to God leads us out into the open, into a 

spacious free life.

Focusing on self is the opposite of focusing on God.

God on you...

mb