Can My Bike Make It?


May 7, 2008 @ 9:18 PM EST | Category: Just Bloggin'

April was full on encounters with strangers. Most of them were fairly normal conversations about the Gospel but one in particular stuck out last month. This is that one.

As I have mentioned before I try to make it a normal routine when I am heading home for lunch to check out our local public square and see if there is anyone sitting there that I can talk to. I was headed home one day and I saw an African-American lady sitting on the square with a bicycle and a portable boom-box. She had the music jammin' and she was jammin' with it. I laughed inside because I thought this was kind of strange being mid-day in such a public place.

I pull over my car and park it. I began to pray for the lady before I went to talk to her (this usually helps me take the focus off of my fears and get my focus on eternity, and I normally ask God to supernaturally intervene through me).

I walk up to her and I can tell by the look on her face that she was not 'normal.' She seemed a little mentally handicapped by her motions and her facial expressions. My heart sank, because normally with someone who is mentally handicapped you have to be very thorough and take lots of time with them for them to understand the essentials of the Gospel. I only had an hour. (What a fleshly mindset.) I repented and committed myself to God and casually said, "Hello!" as I was pulling out a Gospel tract from my shirt pocket.

She quickly turned down the radio and said hello right back to me. I sat down beside her stuck out my hand and introduced myself. She shook it and without hesitation said, "I don't have any friends." I quickly replied, "Well, I can be your friend if you want." She smiled. I gave her the tract and she asked what it was with suspicion. I told her it was a Gospel tract and that it tells you how to go to heaven. She briefly shared with me that her grandmother talked to her as a young child about the Lord. I asked her what she remembered. She ducked her head, squinted her eyes really tight, twiddled her fingers and said, "Umm, I can't remember much. All I know is people don't like me because I am slow. Churches don't want me because I am slow and I know I am slow but that's why." She proceeded to tell me about her life as a teen and how she did bad things.

My heart just broke. I was angry inside because people had rejected this woman in the past from hearing the Gospel because of a physical handicap. To me they were just sending her straight to hell by casting her out because they didn't want to associate with her. I wanted her to hear the Gospel of everlasting life. So I pressed on and tried to ignore the way my heart felt toward the people she had described to me.

I asked her did she consider herself to be a good person overall and she replied with the typical, "Yes I do." I took her through the 10 Commandments to show her specifically where she had sinned against God. She shook her head at each Commandment affirming with her conscience that these things were true. She admitted that if God gave her justice that she wouldn't be headed for Heaven but for Hell. I asked her did that concern her at all and she said that it did.

I then asked her did she know what God did for her so she wouldn't have to go to Hell. She bowed her head, squinted her eyes really tight, twiddled her fingers and said, "Lemme think...Hold on..." My heart was breaking for this woman. She was trying so hard to remember what her grandmother had told her and she just couldn't articulate the words. I said, "Remember Jesus?" She lifted her head really quick and said, "Yes, I remember now." I told her that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sin, and then he rose from the dead, defeating death, and the Bible says that if we repent (I had to explain to her this point very thoroughly) and put our trust in Jesus to save us that God will give us everlasting life and we get to go to Heaven when we die. She was excited that I told her this.

I asked her did she have a Bible at home. She said she did. I then asked her did she go to church anywhere. She said, "No, but where do you go?" I said, "Eastridge off of 142, past the old Wal-Mart." Then she said something that just wanted to make me bust out in tears.

She looked at her bicycle, patted the handlebars and said, "Do you think my bike will get me there? I live on Puckett St." (a very long bike ride for anyone to say the least). I wanted to scream; not out of anger but sheer frustration that there are people out there needing to hear the word of God, wanting to get to a church and they don't even have a way.

I wrote our church information down and encouraged her that if she wanted to come to give the church a call and tell them that she spoke with me and they will contact me to come and pick you up.

Brothers and Sisters, I wanted that day to start a Bus Ministry for our church. I was so frustrated and the only thing that calmed me down was trusting in the sovereignty of God in that situation. I learned a long time ago that I cannot save the world, I can only share with them then One who can.

I prayed with her and asked her to think about what we talked about and to please give the church a call.

That lunch break was great....because I got to share the bread of life, the fountain of living water with someone who couldn't make it to hear about either.

"Go ye therefore....." Mark 16:15

It's there for a reason.

(I wrote this off the hip so if it doesn't flow well, forgive me)