An Awkward Conversation Blossoms

When he was a young kid, barely a teenager, I would often notice him standing in the back of church all alone. One day as I watched him I felt God nudge me to go over and talk to him. I sighed and reluctantly walked over to him. I tried to start a conversation, but we stumbled over our words. It was very awkward at best. Afterward I questioned why God wanted me to talk to him. It made no sense to me.

As the years passed, God continued to nudge me to periodically talk to this boy. Sometimes it was just a simple “hi” to show that I noticed him. Because of these short, awkward conversations we connected in a strange way. We didn’t become close, but slowly I built a kind of disconnected friendship with this kid.

As he grew older he began to get in more and more trouble. Several times I would talk to him about it, but he was indifferent to my words. It became harder to connect with him, yet God still nudged me to talk to him. When his trouble landed him in prison, he put me on his visitor list. I wrote him a couple times and tried to visit him but for some reason my visitor application was lost.

I began to wonder what the point was in trying to stay connected with this guy who was now a man serving time. Yet God kept nudging me. After he was released from prison, he committed more crimes that landed him back in prison. This time I was able to visit him in prison. When I sat down with him the first time in the visitor area, I was astounded to hear him talk about the Bible and following Jesus. He was determined to change his life.

Last December he was released from prison after serving his sentence. A few weeks ago he and his wife came over to our place for dinner and advice on questions of faith and their relationship with each other. As they sat on our couch talking with my wife and I, it occurred to me that perhaps God placed me in his life almost 20 years ago for this moment. He kept me connected to him with those short, awkward conversations that did not make sense at the time. God knew this day would come and he began preparing us for it almost 20 years ago. I was reminded that God is at work in the littlest details. He has the long view of life and how seemingly small, insignificant things can make a big difference years later.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1

© 2019 CGThelen