Let me tell you a bit about my day. It started out joining one of the churches I've been going to and doing a flash mob on the streets of the Cardiff city centre. We danced to the song by Mary Mary, "Shackles"! It was lots of fun. The church was also handing out hot cross buns and flyers in honor of Easter. The flyers explained a bit of the Easter story, as well as an invitation to come to church tomorrow. A friend had jokingly given me one of the flyers, and I had meant to hand it to someone, but ended up just sticking it in my bag.
Afterwards we hung out and talked for a bit, but then I was left with deciding what I was going to do for the rest of the day. Where I'd normally just go home, I decided to take a bike ride down some of the paths in the park nearby. It was a beautiful day out, and a good 60+ degrees. I went to the park and took some photos of the blossoming trees and such.
Then God stepped in. As I was enjoying the view I noticed this man sitting on a bench by himself and he seemed to be talking to himself. As I got nearer, he seemed to get more frustrated and louder as he stood up, and I realized that he was saying the same thing over and over again. He was chanting "I can't believe I did that! I can't believe I did that!" etc.
I had passed by the time I understood what he was saying, but I had a feeling that this man was in need. I had to talk to him and at least ask if he was alright. I turned around and came back to him, asking if he was alright. He seemed surprised that I asked, but thanked me for stopping. He said I was the only one who stopped to see if he was okay. He told me that of course he wasn't alright, because if he had been alright he wouldn't be saying that over and over.He told me a bit of his problem, that he had made a huge mistake financially and that he believed he was ruined.
He thanked me again for stopping, as if expecting me to leave, but I had the feeling I should give him that flyer from the church. I told him that if he'd like to meet more people who'll care to come to church tomorrow. He told me that funnily enough he'd turned to religion out of desperation. He said that he'd read the pamphlet, but he'd already committed "the 7 deadly sins" and he was beyond hope.(This told me that he had actually read a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet, not really scripture.)
This opened up the conversation to actually telling this man about God's goodness and why we celebrate Easter. Some of you may not believe this, but this was the first time when I've found myself in a conversation that was practically begging me to tell the salvation story. And around Easter as well? This had to be God. This man then told me about how all these different "coincidences" kept coming up and pointing him to God. But he knew it wasn't just a coincidence. I told him that it was God! That things might be hard, and he may have done things wrong, but God has a plan for him and that God loves him. Maybe it's not him being punished like he thought, but maybe it's God giving him a wake up call. He admitted that it's really woken him up. He seemed filled with regret, wishing that he had done things differently. I told him that it's not the end! His hearts still beating, there's life ahead! He didn't seem too hopeful. He couldn't get his mind around the idea that he doesn't have to carry guilt around but just give it to God.
He seemed inclined to take up the invite to church. I know that God has something great in mind for this man. Please pray that he does come and that God seals the deal and brings this man the peace and hope he's lacking. God is so good. He's great at setting these things up.
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