This morning on the way to work I almost got squashed by an overturning tractor trailer carrying a roll of steel. I was in the middle lane on I40 (westbound) when the rig was getting on the highway at Rt. 64, which boasts a very tight curve. The trucker must have taken the turn too fast. Praise God I was still about 10 car lengths behind where it was merging. It was like watching a movie in slow motion. Fortunately, only the driver was injured, and only his truck was damaged, and the roll of steel landed on its side. The cab of the truck was on its side and the driver climbed out pretty shaken, blood dripping from his arm. A college kid made phone calls for him, and I had the opportunity to pray with him.
It was so sad to see how scared I was to simply pray with what could have been a dying man. There was a spiritual battle inside of me. I felt the Holy Spirit prodding me to pray with him, but over the years, somehow, I have turned into a coward when it comes to proactively expressing my faith in public. In a church environment I feel safe, but in public I am insecure. In the end, I have been a hypocrite in matters of evangelism. I talk about it, but I don’t really do it. I have told myself that I care for the lost, but I haven’t cared enough to tell them how to find peace with God through Jesus Christ. But this time the Holy Spirit prodded me further with thoughts like this: John, you asked me for courage. Right now I’m just asking you to pray with him. If you can’t do what I ask you to do here and now, when will you do it? Nobody else is going to do it. You have the only thing that will give him peace. Here’s your opportunity.”
And so after much wrestling, I finally asked Bobby, the truck driver who was visibly shaken and afraid of losing his job, to let me pray for him. He didn’t resist. I laid my hand on his shoulder (the one not bleeding) and prayed for him. I prayed for his physical and emotional healing. I prayed that he wouldn’t lose his job. I prayed for peace in the situation, the kind of peace that only God can give. I asked those things in the name of Jesus. And my work was done. I did what the Holy Spirit prompted me to do. I said the words He prompted me to say. I was His messenger to Bobby this morning, hopefully not the last.
I looked around and each emergency worker was fulfilling his role. One checking for gas leaks, one directing traffic, two putting Bobby on a stretcher, one taking down eyewitness accounts, and now one interceding for Bobby before the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. It is a sobering, humbling and powerful commission to be called into the service of our Lord. Each day He calls us to “take up your cross and follow Me.” This morning Bobby needed a Savior. I needed a Lord.
I pray that God would finish the work He started in Bobby’s life. I ask you to do the same.