I'll tell you a little story
about the providence of God and about my experience lately of
the providence of God. Sunday night, it was pouring
down rain. Remember how it was raining Sunday
night? I said to Miss Pam, you know, I'm going to go fill the
car up with gas up here at the corner gas station. There was
a young couple. She was 18 years old. He was
22. They were filling a gas can up,
a gallon gas can, or plastic can, up with gas. And they kept looking at me,
and I thought, uh-oh. I was getting ready to start
my car, and this young, he was Hispanic, knocked on my window. He goes, We ran out of gas about a mile
up the road here. Could you give us a ride back
to our car? All kinds of alarms went off.
I started looking for my phone. I started thinking, OK. Is this
guy going to kill me if I do this?" I never do this. I mean,
I've got a habit of I don't give people money. I said, okay, hop
in. I meant for him to hop in the
front seat, her to hop in the back seat. They both hopped in
the back seat, so I can't see what's going on back there, right?
I mean, these are my thoughts. But I thought to myself, I think
this might be a God appointment. You ever have those kind of thoughts?
So we got the little gallon gas can and we went a mile up the
road and back into a subdivision. And I'm thinking, okay, did I,
should I, is this crazy or not? So we finally got to where the
car was. He said, I've been here all day.
I do mudding on houses, newer houses here, and we've only been
married a short time, and we live in downtown Detroit. So
we got out, and I said, you know what? Put the gas in the car. I'm just going to sit here till
the car starts. And the car goes, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. I thought, oh, no. Now the car
won't start. The battery's dead. We jumped
it. It started. Just started right off. He took the jumper cables off.
I said, okay, I hope you kids have a good night. You know,
God bless you. I took off and I was watching
in my rear view mirror. Their car wasn't moving. I said
to myself, don't go back, Kent. Don't go back. And something
said, go back. It was crazy. Sometimes God encounters
are not like you think they're going to be. So I turned around
and went back. He said, it died, and it won't start again. Can
you wait just a few minutes while I take the battery off? And he
did all the clean the battery. So we jumped it again. And it started. And I said, OK,
I'm gone now. And he said, well, thank you.
He was very nice. He said, thank you. I took off. I'm watching him in the rear
view mirror. And the Lord or somebody said, go back. That car's not running. I went
back for the third time. He said, I need more gas. I said,
it's pouring down rain. Do you have money for gas? Well, No, the Lord said to me, give
them all the money in your pocket. I said, not all the money in
my pocket. Every day this week I've thought. I got to share
the gospel with those two kids. I did give them every dime I
had. I truly believe that I met up
with two of God's people that I was meant to meet up with.
That in the providence of God, it was meant for them to run
out of gas. It was meant for me to go to the gas station and
meet up with them. And I sensed it, and I think
this young man even sensed it. Because in the back seat of my
car, there was two Bibles. He goes, are you religious? I
said, not very, but. I said, I am a pastor. Oh, oh,
what church? I said, Grace Gospel Fellowship
in downtown Pontiac. I'd love for you to come out
some Sunday. He said, you know, I'm going
to, I might do that. Me and my wife. come out. You know God does things like
that. Somehow our everyday life We need to encounter God, and
God to encounter us, and for us to have experiences that literally
thrill us in this sense. This was not an accident. I got
to help two people. I have no earthly idea what their
names are. All of my attention was on these
two kids that ran out of gas. The rain was falling, and they
had a $25 car. I don't know how they got back
to Detroit, that thing. The reason I told you that story
is because God's not real fancy. He might take you to the most
unbelievable people. You may be in the most unusual
predicament, but I do believe this. God has called us and saved
us to help other people. Our biggest problem is our self-centeredness. So we become other-centered and
we experience God. And then we become non-stingy
too. I haven't missed that money at
all. And I've been blessed by it.
I don't know, I just suspect I'm going to see these two people
in heaven, if not here at Grace Gospel in one day.