The Hitchhikers -God's Timing Is Not Always Your Timing

The Hitchhikers

God's Timing Is Not Always Your Timing.
Part 1
Making myself available to be used by God whenever He needs to use me often times, I hate to admit, conflicts with what I want to be doing, my schedule, and my own desires. Recently, however, I learned a valuable lesson about obedience to Him and the impact it can have on another person a few weeks ago.

It was an incredibly beautiful October Saturday. One of those where the sky was that perfect clear blue, the trees were beginning to show their fall colors, and the air was cool and comfortable. I had been busy all morning with some work stuff that just had to get done and some chores I had put off around the house but I had finally gotten free and was heading to Lake Norman State Park to go mountain biking for only the second time in 11 years. Mountain biking had been a huge obsession of mine all through the 90’s and my addiction to it had almost killed me once and injured me severely another. Only after experiencing the second of two neck injuries and ultimatums from my orthopedic doctor and wife did I quit. It had taken me 11 years to get to a point where I felt I could go back to the sport on a casual, less aggressive, basis and not allow it put my family’s future and my health in jeopardy. I also had a single speed mountain bike that was not set up for seriously technical riding that could help throttle me a bit. You have to understand, besides skateboards, bicycles, and particularly off road bicycles, have been the “love” of my life besides my God and my family and to ride again was euphoric.

I was also heading to the great trails of Lake Norman State Park I had never been able to allow myself to see. Back in the 90’s I had worked with other mountain bike advocates tirelessly to get approval for those trails from the state but after my injury could not bring myself to go back to see the trails once they were built because I would probably never ride them. The anticipation of finally allowing me to roll through those woods and see the hundreds of man-hours the volunteers had put in to bring those trails to fruition had my heart beating fast and my mine fixated on getting there.
God had a change of plans in mind. I had gotten a late start and was driving quickly down Shelton Avenue/Highway 115. I had noticed the “E” light was showing in the car indicating I was very low on gas but I had pushed that to the limit before and besides I had a bicycle on the top in case I miscalculated. I felt like I had just enough gas to get me to the park and then back to Troutman after riding to get gas before driving home. All I could think about was getting to the trail before running out of daylight.

Then I saw them. On the side of the road walking toward Barium Springs almost at Third Creek there they were two unassuming men who had the appearance that they either had been working or were a bit down on their luck. The smaller of the two men was holding out his thumb trying to petition for a ride while the other man looked on. Everyone was driving by them and so did I. My first thought was “I don’t pick up hitchhikers and I am in a hurry.”

As I continued on I could not get them out of my mind. I tried to shake it off and as I was approaching Barium Springs Children Home about two miles past where I had seen them that now familiar “thought voice” I call it was in my head. “Marion, go back and give those guys a ride.”

“Are you KIDDING ME?” I almost screamed in my head. “I am almost out of gas, I am running out of daylight, I am getting ready to see trails I have waited 11 years to see much less ride and I don’t have time to do a good deed.”
But as I have learned now that voice doesn’t go away unless I act on it so I turned around in the YMCA parking lot and headed back up the road in search of the men. I kept thinking to myself “Well, maybe they only need a ride as far as Troutman and I can just drop them off. Yeah, that will be good. No problem.”

When I finally caught sight of the two gentlemen they were walking back toward Statesville. Again, “Are you kidding me? I turned around and drove back just so those guys can change their mind! Uggh!”

I reached the part of the road where they were, rolled down my window while pulling over, and called out to them. “Hey, weren’t you guys going the other way?”

The one who had been thumbing replied back to me from across the busy road. “Yes, but we gave up because we were suppose to meet someone in Mooresville at 4:15 and no one was picking us up. We are walking back to the mission (referring to, I found out later, the 5th Street Ministries Homeless Shelter).”

The third “are you kidding me?” went flashing through my head. “Mooresville” I thought. I don’t have enough gas for to get there and back and still go ride.

Instead, I told them to hold up and I would turn around. It took me a minute and the two, obviously “professionals” at hitchhiking, had run down the road a bit to a good pull off spot. The whole time I am thinking to myself “What have I gotten myself into this time?” Believe me at this point doubt was sitting in the seat beside me, was big, ugly, and pointing at me mockingly.

I got turned around and pulled over at the pick-up spot and the two climbed in. Both were looking a little worse from the wear of probably being on the street for a long time but were friendly and thankful.

I asked them their names and where in Mooresville they needed to go and the man in the back seat told me they needed to go to Wal-Mart. Have you ever been to Wal-Mart in Mooresville, NC on a Saturday afternoon? You guessed it. “Are you kidding me?” bounced loudly around in my head but this time there was another voice there too. “No. This is what you were supposed to do today.”

I agreed to take them there and we started down the road. The man in the front seat, the thumb guy, was named Robert and was just sitting there quiet.

All of sudden it happened. Gary says “Hey man. Don’t I know you? …Haven’t I seen you at the Cove Church in Statesville (my church)?”

I was wracking my brain but could not remember him and before I could speak Gary again says “Yeah man. The Cove Church in Statesville. That church is awesome. I love the way the people there are so accepting and make you feel so welcome. And that Pastor Mike. Did you know he was from Arkansas and had a brother that died and didn’t believe in God? Man I love his messages. I like this new series on Community. You know the part about all of us being in a hole together looking after each other what’s that called?”

“A foxhole?” I said.

“Yeah, yeah. A foxhole. Man I loved that. We are all in this together.”

Now let me tell you I can talk. I can talk a bunch but I think I met my match in Gary. From that point until we got to Mooresville he literally paraphrased all three of Mike’s most recent messages with a little Christian Chapman thrown in. Robert in the front seat chimed in where he could and it was obvious they had been going to church together.
In that short span I also learned that Gary had finally gotten a job up in Yadkinville as a welder and was heading up there Monday. He was going to take Robert with him and try to get him hired as his helper. I also learned that Gary had been on the street for a long time as had Robert. Both of them had struggled a bit with alcohol but that they both had faith that God would someday get them out of all of this.

When we got to Wal-Mart instead of dropping them off at the top of the parking lot I drove them straight up to the front door. I got out with them and we stood there praying before they went to meet the person that was going to give them some work for the evening.

After dropping them off I drove to the state park. I was able to only ride my bike a short time at the trail but all I could think about was how thankful I was that God didn’t let me off the hook. I was able to experience my church through the eyes of someone hurting like these two men and it was an awesome feeling. It was one of the best bike rides of my life. Somehow I had just enough gas to get back to Troutman and I made it home that evening with what I thought was a great journal entry in the making.

That in and of itself should have been the end of the story. But it wasn’t.

Part 2
Fast forward to the Monday following. Pastor Lewis came to meet me for lunch at the Groucho’s Deli in Downtown Statesville that is in mine and my wife building and where my office is upstairs. We were working on CareerLIFE Ministry planning but while we were eating I had told him about the hitchhikers. When we finished we had stepped outside into another beautiful October day and were just chatting before he was to head back to Mooresville and I back upstairs when walking down the street there was Robert, the quieter of the two hitchhikers.

I stopped Robert and asked him why he didn’t go to Yadkinville like they had discussed with me. Robert said that there was really no promise of a job up there so he had stayed behind. He looked very distraught and even more drawn than Saturday. I asked him what was wrong.

He proceeded to tell me and Pastor Lewis that he was from Florida and that there was a warrant there for his arrest. He had just been at the police department in Statesville trying to turn himself in because he wanted to go back to Florida, do his time, and get his life back on track. Unfortunately, his offense, a minor one, was a “no bond” warrant and because of cost cutting measures the state of North Carolina would not extradite him back to Florida. Here he was ready to turn himself in and he could not even do that!

I looked over at Pastor Lewis and asked is there anything we can do and Pastor Lewis was all over it. He told me to get his information and he would get back with me the next day.

After Pastor Lewis left I asked Robert if he had eaten yet that day. It was almost 2 pm and he shook his head “no”. I took him into the Gary’s Sweet Shop and got them to fix him anything he wanted while I got his information from him.
Robert produced his driver’s license, social security card, and gave me the county in Florida where the warrant was issued and I went to work. I told him to meet me back here the next day and went back to my office.

My recruitment firm occasionally has to do criminal background checks and I was quickly able to determine that his story was legitimate; he did have a bond for a few minor offenses, and was facing about 3 months of jail time. I also confirmed that they would not pay to have him brought to Florida.

Once I collected all of the information together Pastor Lewis took over. Even though almost the entire staff of the Cove was in Atlanta within a day he and Patrick Webber had purchased him a bus ticket. I coordinated with Billy at 5th Street Ministries to get him transported to the bus station on Thursday morning early in downtown Charlotte. My wife Donna packed him a bag of food (including some of her “famous” homemade muffins), water, and juice for the trip, and we got him ready to go. I had picked up a Study Bible and put that in the bag too. In it I had written his name, that it was from The Cove Church, and to always set his sight on God in everything he does for the rest of his life.

The next day the great people at 5th Street Ministries put Robert on a bus back home and on Friday he turned himself in to the local authorities.

This whole situation made me realize that maybe the reason God hadn’t met Robert’s needs is because He has been waiting on me to allow Him to use me to do so. It is something I hope and pray I will never forget.

When you see someone in need maybe just maybe the reason that God hasn't met that need yet is because it is as much about what you need to be doing FOR the kingdom of God as it is about what that person needs FROM the kingdom of God.
Who has God put in your path that needs you?

Matthew 25:40 (New International Version)
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:45 (New International Version)
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’