The conditions we put on our love towards people is founded on their appearance and their actions. I tend to think Jesus always set a better example. He examined the heart. If people were inevitably bound to their demons with no hope of redemption then how could any of us be eligible for a Savior? The “unsaved” are never “unsavable”. Neither Keeli nor I have ever had a beer. (Beer battered fish, however, is another story… So good!) You could say that we live in a dry home. It is a personal choice to not drink. We don’t judge others if they do or think that we are higher than others because we don’t. We have chosen not to play with other people’s fire. Some lack control. Some get consumed. Some hurt themselves or others. One man named Carl knew the monster of alcoholism. But one night, he had an encounter with the fire of God.
I played guitar for a band during my college years with my friends, Ben, Matthew and Colby (all very talented musicians). We were in downtown Asheville. We strolled away from the coffee shop and made our way to my vehicle. For some reason, we stopped to pray for each other. Before we know it, a man comes stumbling towards us.
“I love Jesus,” he said. This man was clearly drunk. He started begging for money and told us he didn’t have a vehicle. Two sentences later he pointed to a van claiming that it was his. So let’s assess the situation. A lying, begging, homeless drunk is raving about Jesus. Sometimes, believers who distance themselves from certain things can have a tendency to also distance themselves from the people who are consumed by those things. When that occurs, opportunities are missed! On this night, conditions were perfect for God to move!
We asked Carl if we could pray with him. He accepted. We asked him what we could pray for. He stretched out his hands and said he had arthritis. It literally looked like golf balls were tucked under his skin around the middle knuckle on each hand. Ben grabbed his hand and I placed my hand on top of Carl’s. Ben prayed. When we looked at his hands, the “golf balls” shrunk tremendously! He began moving his hands like he couldn’t before. One miracle happened. Why not another?
I asked him if he had back pain. He did. He sat down on a curb and stretched out his legs. One leg was about an inch shorter than the other. We commanded his leg to grow in the name of Jesus and it shot out perfectly even with his other.
We gave him some cash and thanked him for letting us pray with him. You never know who you’ll encounter or if you will ever see or hear from them again. That’s why it’s important to reveal the love of God to all we encounter. When certain people seem unlovable, let God’s grace and love take the lead.
Jonathan Fawcett
