I pull into a gas station. I may have set my cell phone on the roof of the car and opened the back to help Kristina out, I may have set it on the seat beside me...I really don't have any idea where my cell was at this time. We go in, she goes to the bathroom. We step out and walk into the small store there. My eyes are immediately drawn to a young man who has just picked up a cell phone that looks exactly like mine. I notice mine is not in my case that I wear on my belt. I'm drawn to ask him if that is his cell phone. He says, "Yes, it is."

I say, "I have one just like it." In my heart, I'm thinking Sprint made tons of phones just like mine. What am I doing? I'm drawn to follow him out to his old, beat up car. I ask him, "Can I see that phone?" My mind says, Why are you doing this? Are you accusing this young man of stealing your phone? He hands me the phone but he is getting more and more upset with me and, I believe, he even says, "Are you accusing me of taking your phone?"

I hand him the phone back. I apologize profusely saying, "I don't know what I did with my cell phone." I'm so flustered with what I'm doing that I try to find a way to back out of this. Kristina says, "Dad, maybe you left it at home?" Of course I'd been making calls from the car (after all, it IS a car phone) so I knew that wasn't true but I used it anyway, "Yes, maybe I did leave it at home." And she and I walked back in the store to finish shopping.

Meanwhile, as I said, I'm thinking the phone is on my car seat but I haven't checked yet.

I'm in line, purchasing something when the young man in his car pulls up to the door and shouts angrily, "Hey, you." I ignore him. The clerk motions to herself, "Me?" she says.

He says, "No, that dude right there. Come here!"

I can't ignore him any longer. I walk out apologizing for accusing him.

He says, "Hey, this IS your phone. I thought it was mine but see, mine's right here." He holds up another cellular phone that doesn't look a whole lot like mine. "I was smoking some weed and just didn't know I had mine. Take yours." He hands it to me.

I couldn't think of much to say. My heart suddenly felt full of love and all I could think to say, as I took his hand and shook it, was "I love you, man. Thanks"

Later, when I went back to finish my purchase, the clerk told me he was one of the roughest boys around. Always starting fights. She said she thought she was going to have to call 911.

I marveled at the work of the Holy Spirit. That young man didn't take the phone and re-sell it, he didn't take the phone and throw it away in a field, he took the phone and gave it back to me.

Praise God. I could then give him what he so richly deserved and what God wanted him to have all along. Love.

All you need is love. YES!

What an awesome God we have. And what He is doing, is none of our business. Our knowing gets in the way of His doing. So we must quit knowing so He can do what He does best. Win hearts over to Him.

I chastised myself for the things I was saying to this young man but the interaction was totally of Holy Spirit's doing.

 

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