In the middle of the scorching AZ summer heat, there lay a man sleeping on the sidewalk beside a circle K at a busy intersection in North Phoenix. I saw him from my car as I was waiting for the light to change, so I did what any normal person would do, and I darted three lanes over to access the turning lane. I quickly flipped a U turn and zipped into the parking lot. I stared at the young man for a minute to see if he was breathing or not, because the temps were around 116 at this point and there had been several deaths in the few days prior to this, because of excessive heat, so I wasn’t sure what to do. I asked God to help me and I jumped out of my car and headed over to the man’s body.
I woke him up and tried not to startle him too bad, because all I knew about him was he was homeless and he had a lighter near him with a grocery bag.
He had a little blood on his chest but he said he was fine.
I asked if I could get him anything, besides the cold drinks and money I just gave him. He asked if I had a cigarette, and said, I am sure you probably don’t have one. I laughed and went to my car and pulled out a pack of Marlboro lights that I had bought on a recent trip to the casino. I didn’t really smoke cigs anymore, but I always liked to be prepared for any emergency moments.
He asked me what church I was with, and I told him that I wasn’t with a church, but I had come to help him with asking God for what he needed.
I prayed for him to have the doors open for help with work and a place to live. Then we talked for about fifteen or twenty mins about his childhood and family.
He had a rough start for sure, and he believed all the bad things people said about him, and he thought he was never going to be able to do anything because of those negative beliefs wounding his soul.
Soon a man in a pick up truck pulled up right in front of where we were sitting on the ground. The guy thought I knew him, because the man was waiting for us to finish talking so he could talk to him.
As I was leaving, I looked at the guy by the truck and I told the young man on the ground that God had sent the man to help him with what he would need next.
I don’t know why I was so confident about that, but I truly believed that God had answered my prayer that quickly and the 23 year old young man was going to have a new life.
I never saw him again, but when I looked into his eyes, I saw Jesus, and that was not the first time that happened while I was helping a total stranger.
Grace, Mercy & Miracles 
“I did what any normal person would do” is, of course, satire. You did what Jesus would do. Thank you for being Christ to this young man. We don’t always know the outcome, we do not base our “success” on any earthly measures, but you were Christ to someone needing Christ. Thank you. Peace.
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Thank you. I just remembered when I read your comment that I was heading to a meeting that day in Paradise Valley with a group of people that I was always trying to be a part of, and I asked the Lord to take over and lead me to do His plans no matter what the outcome would be for me that day. That was the day that my life went from seeking the approval of people to seeking out the lost and broken for Jesus to heal. Some people might think that they are doing God’s will, but I tell you that God’s will was never the easier path or the path that would make me look or fit in with the elite. I was an outcast and people thought I was crazy. I would pick up total strangers and take them to church with me. I got strange looks and a lot of gossip whispered about me and my “new friends”. I lost out on great positions that were going to be mine, but I gained the greatest opportunity to become a daughter of the living God. I never had to wonder if God was with me, because He was more real to me than any person ever could be. He led me on the greatest adventures every single day after that. He still does! I just rescued a heroin addict a few weeks ago that is now in rehab and a totally changed man. I can’t wait to see him when he gets done with his program. He wanted to be loved, and God met him that day and refused to let Him go. It was too beautiful to put into words. There was another heroin addict that I rescued a week before that man, and he was in such a place of peace and love after I spent two hours telling him how much God loves him. He told me that he was going to find a program to get clean, because he realized he was no longer hopeless, and he could see himself in a new way that he had lost sight of for three years of drug addiction after his younger brother died from Cancer.
Most of the people that I meet on the streets of Phoenix are desperately seeking help, but they have been trapped in a pit of addiction for so long that they can’t see a way out anymore. They hate themselves and they don’t know how to escape the hell. God always knows what they need to hear and His love just pours out to heal their hurts when I am willing to step out and give up my time for their lives to be restored. This is from the lady that used to be afraid to walk into a store alone. Ha! I have no fear anymore.
How awesome is our God?!! He is so much better than most people could ever comprehend!
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