Shower Power (July 2005)

from the Transitions Website "Thoughts of The Week"

And now it’s time for another testimony from… Foolish Things Ministries! (Confounding Wisdom and Common Sense in a Neighborhood Near You)

I feel as though I am obligated to warn anyone who will listen to be very careful what you pray for. Cause I've learned that if you pray something like: "God, send me someone that I can share the gospel with today," it's very possible that you could end up with a homeless woman in your shower.

I learned this the hard way a couple of weeks ago while walking home from prayer meeting. I was feeling a bit guilty because I realized that I hadn't really been able to witness to anyone that week, so I started talking to God as I walked home and saying, "You know, God, I have so much going on right now with work and school and all this stuff, but I feel like I haven't given any time to what's really important, and there are so many people that walk by me every day that are headed for hell. I'm still not very good at this, as You know, but... could you just send me someone that needs the gospel? I don't know... someone at my job that I could talk to, or a family member... just, you know, open a door."

Then I changed the subject and started talking about something else, but once again I think that God began to shake His head and smile. Omniscience must be pretty cool.

I finished up my chat with the Lord as I reached my block. As I was fumbling for my keys, I noticed three people, two men and a woman, sitting on the side of the street near my door. I only caught a quick glimpse of them as I walked up to my door, but they looked pretty young, maybe in their late twenties. The weird part was that when I happened to glimpse over, the woman was looking right at me and smiled. I was kinda caught off guard, so I muttered some kind of, "How ya' doin'?" and dropped my keys. Very slick. I quickly picked them up, mumbling some excuse that was totally unnecessary, and hurried inside. The first thing I thought was "... what a foolish thing to say to a homeless person. How ya' doin'. Uh, probably not very well! Yeesh."

Rolling my eyes at myself, I took about three steps up the stairs and suddenly remembered my innocent little prayer about sending me someone who needed the gospel. I stopped right there on the stairs and just stood there. It was one of those times where I knew that the next step that I took would determine my action... if I stepped forward, it was up the stairs, into the apartment, and then the coat would come off and there was no chance of venturing back into the outside world. If I turned around, it was back outside, back to the homeless people and another opportunity to embarrass myself. It was a bit humorous, because I was having this intense debate in my mind, but to any outside observer, I was just standing there for no apparent reason in the middle of the steps. And I was thinking:

Aww, MAN. Is this You, God? Did You do this? Well, I DID ask You for someone. I just... didn't think that it will be THESE someones. But, I mean, I can't go back out there NOW. I already passed them and asked them how they were doing. What possible reason would I have for going back out there now? I guess I don't really need a reason... but... now it's going to be very difficult to strike up a conversation without them immediately thinking, "There's something wrong with you." You know what? I'm probably making this up. Why do I automatically think that these people were the answer to my prayer?

Incidentally, is there a spirit of Think? If so, I think I need deliverance.

But if I go up these stairs, then I'm gonna sit up there wondering if I was supposed to do this or not. And I'd rather make the mistake and go than not go. What's the worst that can happen?

I've also learned not to ask "What's the worst that can happen?".

Finally I just said, "whatever" and dropped everything on the floor and walked out the door without a single thought in my head. It was a nice change.

I got outside and only the one woman was left. I walked up to her and asked if she was okay and if she needed anything, and she seemed very shy but finally said that she was very thirsty. My heart just broke and I couldn't believe that I was just upstairs going through mental gymnastics while this poor woman was sitting down here who just wanted a glass of water. I immediately said, "oh, no problem! I live right here, I'll just run upstairs and get you some. In fact... do you want to come upstairs while I get it?" I can't tell who was more surprised at the second half of that statement. She said, "Oh... wow, really? Um.. okay!" I helped her gather her things and as we were walking up I said, "Is there anything else that you need? Anything else that I can help you with?" Again, she was very shy but she said "um... well... it's been a really long time since I've had a shower."

I felt so bad about the fact that I almost didn't come back down that I think I would have given this woman ANYTHING that she asked for. So the next thing I know, I'm running around my apartment looking for spare towels, getting out some soap that she can use. I did manage to get her name through all of this-- Francine. So I gave Francine what she needed, and she was so incredibly grateful, and as she closed the bathroom door I said "let me know if you need anything!" The minute that door closed, all of the thought that I had left upstairs slammed into me full force, and my eyes got very large as I realized what was actually happening.

There's a homeless woman in my shower. There's a... oh... oh my GOODNESS there is a HOMELESS WOMAN IN MY SHOWER!!! What.... how... what was I THINKING? Right. I wasn't thinking. Well, NOW what do I do?? Okay, okay, don't panic. You're going to.. um.. you're going to let her finish her shower... and then... get her some water... and then... share the gospel with her! Outside!

This was very amusing to my roommates, because the shower naturally took quite a bit of time… and the more time I had to just stand there and wait, the more panicked I became. I knew that I was going to tell her about Jesus, but I work best when I don't have a lot of time to sit around and analyze. So I was listening for the water to turn off because I knew that then it was just about time for me to speak to her, but there were a few times when the water kind of diminished and then came back again. I thought I was going to have a stroke. Finally she came out and I was able to talk to her a bit about the Lord... it didn't seem like anything really stuck but she did say that she wanted to come to the church sometime.

Most of you are probably thinking one of two things (or both):
1. Wow, this is a cool story!
2. Um, don’t these “Thoughts Of The Week” usually have, like, a point?

And, in fact, I do! I have a couple of points. First and foremost, if you ask the Lord to give you opportunity to share the gospel, I can guarantee that He will. He may not do it in the way that you might have LIKED, but He’ll do it nonetheless… and He’ll do it in SPITE of you and all of your issues. Secondly, our job is not to see souls saved. Our job is to preach the gospel in obedience to the Lord and let HIM worry about the results. We might be seed planters, we might be waterers, or we might have the privilege of reaping a harvest that many other people have tended (1 Cor 3:6-7). Don’t be discouraged if you seem to make a total mess of a witnessing situation, because you have no idea what the Lord is doing in a person’s heart.

Until next time… praise God for using earthen vessels. But be careful what you pray for!