Amber was sitting on the sidewalk, luggage beside her, face in her hands weeping when Kacey and Anne saw her. She had been kicked out of the car by her drunk and abusive boyfriend, stranded 5 hours from home, and had nowhere to turn, but she was about to encounter the love and power of Jesus through His people.
Amber Was Lost
Kacey and Anne are both members of the campus ministry I lead. They have been taught to look for those in need, respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and step out of their comfort zone in order to find the adventures that God seems to hide on the other side of inconvenience. When they saw Amber crying on the sidewalk, they knew God was leading them to act.
Kacey, Anne, their husbands, and I were supposed to meet for ice cream and plan a fundraiser when we found Amber. Kacey and Anne took initiative and bought her some ice cream and asked what was wrong. Amber told them she had been forcibly ejected from her boyfriend’s car after discovering that he was on pills. He had 5 beers, 1 shot, and who knows how many pills before becoming violent and forcing her out of his car, stranding her in a strange town.
It took some doing, but we convinced her that it was foolish to try to get him to come back and pick her up, and we would get her a bus ticket, and a place to stay. Kacey and her husband, Levi, had volunteered their apartment for Amber to stay while we came up with a game plan. As we were hanging out in the apartment, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me.
Jesus Found Amber
“Can I pray for you?” I asked when I felt the time was right.
She agreed. She mentioned her back problems in passing earlier, and I asked if I could pray for that, but then the Holy Spirit told me about several other things.
“Do you have chronic migraines?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You’ve suffered from anxiety,” I continued “and ulcers that cause you to not be able to eat, is that right?”
“How do you know that?” She asked.
I explained that Jesus knows everything about her and that He was speaking to me about some of the things that were troubling her. I then prayed for her. Her back felt much better, but when Levi prayed, she began to weep as she realized that for the first time in who knows how long, she was able to move her back without any pain whatsoever.
During this encounter, in between sobs, I was able to share the Gospel with Amber. She gave her heart to Jesus and told me that she felt so much lighter. She felt the peace of God rest upon her. Kacey gave Amber a Bible, and we were able to connect her with a church in her community.
Eventually, we got Amber home. I drove her down about halfway home, and her sister and father met us and picked her up. It was so hard for them to believe that random strangers could be so kind. I was able to pray for Amber’s sister and father, and the Lord gave me some detailed information about them as well, as we began to pray.
They all wept at the kindness of God, that was shown through a group of strangers that just happened to walk by at just the right time. Because Kacey and Anne took time out and inconvenienced themselves in order to show God’s love to a stranger, Amber is now free from an abusive relationship and living for Christ. It is incredible what God can do through a community of people willing to just say “yes” to God, and “no” to self.
I pray you are encouraged to step out of fear, out of self-interest, and out of your comfort zone, in order to say “yes” to God this week. May God bless you.
Your servant,
JonMark
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Photo by Rikki Chan on Unsplash