Being Slapped in the Face

Ever had a metaphorical slap in the face? I can't begin to tell you how many I've had. Right when I begin to think that God has nothing left to show me, it usually happens. Today was no exception.

As always, I worked. Not an uncommon day for me by any stretch of the imagination. I was up at the register ringing up customers, and I look up to see a homeless guy standing in line. To be perfectly honest, I immediately groaned inside. It's hard to know what to expect in these situations. When he walked up, I could smell what was definitely cigarette smoke. The evil judge in me was going crazy. Then, he put a paperback Bible on the counter, followed by a couple dollars that I later found out one of our associates had given him. A little surprised, I began to ring him up. As I did, he began to talk endlessly. Amazingly, he was quoting Bible verses. I'm not talking about your typical Sunday School Bible verses. I'm talking about whole passages, putting many pastors to shame. As I stared at him in disbelief, his smiling face suddenly got really serious. Leaning forward a bit, he said, "Are you a Christian?" A little caught off guard, I told him I was. While I expected him to leave it at that, he then asked me, "What's your testimony?" This put me to shame. How often do we simply take someone who says they're a Christian at their word and not ask them for their testimony? I told him about how I was saved when I was 16, and how my life has radically changed since. He congratulated me with a big smile, and proceeded to tell me his. I honestly only understood a fraction of what he was saying, but I did hear him mention how even through his terrible situation, God is still good.

Wow . . .

Here I was judging a man who was going through a painful time, and here God was using the situation to show me where I was dead wrong. While I looked at him and judged, God looked and saw His child. God loves the unloved. Here I was, refusing to reach out to this man, and he comes up and reaches out to me, genuinely concerned for my soul. There's not much left to say. I'm humbled.