The Long Arm of the Lord

 

We were on our way home from our grandson’s grade nine graduation. We almost always go via Red Deer when we go see our daughter and her boys, but this time Tom decided he wanted to take the scenic route home. It takes about the same amount of time just has narrower highways, more stops and turns, and not as much traffic, etc. About five minutes north of highway 27, our last turn before we would be home, we saw this clump of cloth beside the road. “What was that?!”, I asked, a little shaken. Tom replied, “I think it was a person.” We had to turn back. What if the person was in need of assistance? If we end up having to call 911, we’ll be up all night. We had no idea what to expect but we knew we had to go back.

When we pulled up to “the clump of cloth” it sat up. A young man waved enthusiastically and cheerfully at us. When we asked if he was okay, he replied, “Oh, I’m great. I just got very tired because I’ve been walking all day.”

This young man was on his way to Calgary and his mode of transportation was his feet. He had gotten miserably off course. His phone was dead, so he did not have access to Google maps or to phone anyone for help. However, he seemed undaunted by his misfortune. All he asked for was to be pointed in the right direction and how far the nearest town was. We could do better than that and take him to the road that would lead him back on track.

We explained where he was and offered to take him to the nearest highway that would take him back to the QE2 highway. But when we got to our corner, we both knew we needed to take him all the way to the main highway so he would be better positioned to be on his way to Calgary. So, instead of turning left to go home we turned right to take this young man to the nearest town on the QE2.

Let me back up a bit. When he was comfortably seated in the back seat of our car we began to ask about him and why he was out walking in the boondocks? He said that if he told us we may just kick him right back out of the car, but we assured him we’d be okay with whatever he had to say. I mean how bad could it be? He didn’t look like an axe murderer running from the police…

We found out he was a Jesus Follower. He met Jesus while serving time for a DUI (he had spent some time in prison, but not for murder. Whew!). We had a great conversation about God’s faithfulness even when life is tough. He was at the end of himself and knew he needed help. That’s when we found out he was on his way to a Recovery Centre in Calgary and needed to check in by the next day. Oh boy, was he ever off course. Somewhere along the line he had made a very wrong turn. He was walking, all the way from Red Deer to Calgary. He was so very optimistic about the journey he was on. He was so desperately lost in the country. He thought he was walking west but was walking east. He was determined to get to the Recovery Centre. How many of us are that desperate for freedom, and restoration of relationships?

Before we dropped him off at the gas station on the QE2, Tom prayed for A. We had a water bottle in the car and a bag of trail mix which we gave to him. It was nothing but he was so very grateful. His last words to us were, “Don’t pick up hitchhikers!!”

A divine appointment, on a back road, in the middle of the night. We never pick up hitchhikers, but we knew this was a God moment for us as well as for A. I’d love to hear how he got to Calgary and how many God appointments he encountered along the way. I wonder how many people are in his life praying for him. I wonder how many people thought him a hopeless case, someone who deserved what he got. I would never have guessed that one day an ex-con would climb into the Preacher’s car and bless the Preacher’s Wife with so much joy and hope.

What if we had taken our normal route home? What if we had not obeyed that nudge we felt? We were tired. It had been a long day and it was getting close to midnight. It would have been much easier to just go home.

As I sit in this story, I see Jesus’ fingerprints everywhere. He goes to great lengths to bring his children home. He goes to great lengths to show me his faithfulness, his gentle care and concern for those who have gotten lost on their journey. I have a renewed hope and joy and deeper trust in God. He works in his way and his time. He is at work. My part is to obey his nudges along the way.

Sometimes I don’t even recognize Holy Spirit’s nudges until after the fact because it just seems like the right thing to do. Sometimes I don’t obey even though I know it’s him. At times he gives me the gift of seeing the impact I am having in someone’s life. And there are many times I never find out the result.

I have a renewed resolve to bend my ear to Holy Spirit and obey. By A’s response I’m pretty sure we were a source of blessing for him, but truly I feel like I was the one who received the greater blessing that night.

That night the long arm of the Lord reached out to A and brought him the help he needed to get back on the right road. That night the long arm of the Lord tapped us on the shoulder and asked us to get uncomfortable and help one of his kids. That night the long arm of the Lord gave me a renewed hope that his arm is long enough to reach anyone, anywhere, anytime.

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you [and with your loved one]. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.” (2 Peter 3:8–9, NCV) [brackets added by me]

I wonder what A’s mama thought when he was convicted and had to serve time in prison? If it were me, I would want to fight it and prove that my son didn’t deserve this, at the very least I would want to bail him out. But had A not been convicted he may never have met Jesus. He may never have come to the end of himself realizing he needed some external support to help him get back on track. We never know what methods Father is going to use but we know for sure that his plans are for our good and for the good of those we love.

Can you trust the long arm of the Lord?