As I drove to speak at an FCA rally in Clemson with my two boys, something caught my eye. A teenage boy and girl were walking down the interstate pulling suitcases. I tried to pretend I didn’t see them, but the Holy Spirit urged me with a question: “You’re willing to talk to 1,000 students. What about them?”
So I told the boys as I turned around that we were going to help them. Caden frantically said, “But, Daddy, he’s smoking a cigarette!” I assured him I wouldn’t let him smoke in the car, and told them not to tell their mother about this!
The hitchhikers, Pat and Hadden, were college freshmen. Pat spoke of her difficult home life and her desire to go to a homeless shelter. Her parents frequently told her they hated her, and they never told her they loved her.
I told them of the love of Jesus, and I prayed for them as they got out of the car at the coliseum. Connor gave them a pocket Bible he had. As they were leaving, I asked if they wanted to stay and be my guest at the rally.Unbeknownst to them, they had just arrived with the speaker — me — and were treated like royalty.
I checked in with the staff, and they gave me tickets to the Clemson game. I remembered that I had asked a week before for two extra tickets in case someone came with me. I invited Pat and Hadden to the game, and they were ecstatic.
After worship, I stood to speak, and the message I prepared the week before was on the prodigal son. During the invitation, over 150 students stood to confess Christ as Lord, and one of those in the crowd standing was Hadden. As Hadden went to talk to a counselor, Pat walked up to me and whispered, “No one in my life, including my own family, has ever been as nice to me as you have been to me today.”
After the rally, we celebrated and cheered together at the Clemson game.
I wonder how many times I’ve missed out on an out-of-the ordinary experience because I have either not been sensitive to the Holy Spirit or just turned my head the other way and acted like someone didn’t exist. My grandmother always says that everyone has a story. You just have to slow down and take the time to listen to it.
Open your eyes this week, and maybe God will show you someone who needs a lift spiritually. Listen to them. Who knows? God may give you the opportunity to enter their story.