April 29, 2025 Devo

When I was a pastor in Phoenix, we had a new guy show up for our Saturday night service who was a bit odd. He came and sat down in the front row across the aisle from me. As our band began playing and we stood to worship, he started becoming fairly animated and loud. I was a bit agitated because, not only was he being obnoxious, he was doing it right in front of another family who was also there for the first time. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I took one step in his direction to escort him out, and I felt God pull me back. It was as if God was telling me to “chill.” I stepped back to my seat. But I didn’t like it.
After the service, when I had a chance to visit with him, I quickly discovered that he had been drinking. He shared his many struggles and his need for Jesus. I told him I’d pray about his troubles with him, but if he truly wanted to surrender his life to Jesus, I needed him to be sober and to come see me on Monday. We would talk then. To my surprise, he did. I had the privilege of leading him to Christ in my office. He confessed his past struggles with drugs and alcohol, and I encouraged him to get involved in our Celebrate Recovery program, which he did. He blossomed in his walk with God and in his recovery.
A few months later, I got a call from his sister telling me he had passed away. I was shocked. She shared with me that in his drug use time he had contracted HIV. Recently he had ended up getting pneumonia, and his body failed very quickly. She thanked me for all that our church had done for him. She was thrilled that he had finally found “peace.” When I hung up the phone, I cried like a baby. I realized that I had come terribly close to running off one of God’s hurting children that He had hand-delivered to us. This young man could have easily missed Jesus altogether because of my need for control.
Be still in God’s presence. Wait, and don’t be in a hurry. Your anxiety and worry and need to take charge often do much more harm than good. Humble yourself before the Lord, and surrender your control to His Plan. He’s working in ways you can’t see and is often up to something that you can’t begin to imagine. Maybe even someone’s eternity. That’s God’s Word for you today.