As told by James Robison on pages 12-19 in “Living Amazed: How Divine Encounters Can Change Your Life.”
When Betty and I had been married about seven years, we leased a hunting property with some friends about sixty miles northwest of Austin TX. We planned to use it as a retreat from the pace and pressures of my preaching ministry, which at the time had me on the road more than 275 days a year.
That summer we drove up to see the property and do some maintenance work. WE took our daughter Rhonda, who was five years old, and my former foster parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Hale. After a full day of work in the hot Texan sun, we still had a four-hour drive ahead of us to back home to the Ft. Worth area, and by then evening had fallen. As we drove through a little town called Marble Falls, I said to Betty, “I gotta have some chocolate milk.”
I was still sweaty from the work, I hadn’t shaved in a couple days, and I was dressed in coveralls and boots, and a big craving for chocolate milk, so we pulled into the first quick-stop market along the way.
As I got out of the car, I noticed thirty or forty high-school age kids hanging around in small groups in the parking lot. Some had their heads down, and I sensed they were troubled about something. Inside the store, I passed a couple of girls who were wiping tears from their eyes, on my way back to the dairy case. I sensed the Holy Spirit saying to me, James, you need to talk to these kids.
When I got to the check-out, I said, ”I’ve seen some folks who are crying. What’s going on here?”
“These kids are really, really sad,” she said. “One of the most popular students, a football player, was in a car accident, and broke his neck. The kids have been here today praying that he would recover, be healed, but they just got word that he died.”
Again, I sensed the Holy Spirit say, Go talk to these boys and girls. They need to her how much Jesus loves them. The message was as clear as if it had been audible. Here’s a good example of how the enemy gets in and tries to distract us. No sooner had I heard the Lord speak than a second voice – my own voice – began to enumerate all the reasons why talking to these kids was not a good idea.
You need to look out for your family, James. You still have a four hour drive ahead of you. Betty’s tired, Rhonda’s tired, the Hales are tired. You’re wearing coveralls, and you haven’t showered or shaved. And besides, these kids are all over the place out there. How would you ever get them together to talk to them?
When the enemy goes to work on us, it’s not like Cupid shooting arrows of love. He fires suggestions, doubts, and distractions. But when God speaks, He speaks the truth.
James, these kids need to hear how much I love them.
I paid for my chocolate milk and walked toward the exit. As soon as I touched the door handle, I saw all the kids in the parking suddenly come together in a circle right out front.
Okay, Lord, that is just too obvious.
In my dirty coveralls, unshaven, and looking like a bum, I stepped into the middle of the circle, looked around at all the grieving faces, and said, “Excuse me, I was just passing through town, and the lady inside told me you just lost a friend. I’m so sorry to hear that. But I feel impressed to tell you that if your friend was a Christian, he’s in heaven right now, and he’s looking down at you and saying, ‘Whatever you do, don’t miss this! Don’t miss heaven.’ And he wants you to know that Jesus is the way to heaven.”
Now, if your friend was not a Christian, he’s saying, ‘I don’t want you to come where I am right now.’ And if you yourself are a Christian, he’s saying, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Jesus! Why didn’t you tell me so I didn’t end up here?’
“If you didn’t tell him about Jesus, you have to honestly ask yourself why? And if you know Jesus, you need to understand that your friends here could leave at any moment, like this boy did, and you need to be a witness.
“Those of you who don’t know Christ, your friend wants to make sure that you don’t miss heaven.”
I concluded by saying, “Whatever you might think about what I just said, remember this: on the day your friend died, a stranger who was just driving through town stopped long enough to point you to Jesus and recommend Jesus to you.
Then I walked back to the van, got in, and we resumed our drive home.
That sounds like the end of the story, right? I hadn’t told the kids my name, where I was from, or what I did. Nothing.
Several weeks later. We were doing an area-wide crusade in Austin. That was the crusade where eleven members of the 1969 national champion Texas Longhorn football team came to Christ, including quarterback James Street and receiver Randy Peschel, who would later connect on an amazing fourth-down pass to set up the winning touchdown against Arkansas that sealed the national championship.
After the service one night, several high school kids came up to me and said, “Sir, you’re him. You don’t look like him, but you’re him. You’re the one.”
“I’m the one who what?”
“The one who stopped in the parking lot and told us about Jesus. Sir, that changed our lives.” One of the girls started crying and said, “My dad was an alcoholic and I went home and led him to the Lord. He was killed just a short time later, but he went to heaven because you stopped at that store.”
“That’s amazing!” I said.
But the story doesn’t stop there.
To be continued in Wednesday AM blog. Blessings as YOU GO FORTH>>>>>merlin