Some days you don’t feel your best and are not interested in talking to anyone. I recently had one of those days when I was recovering from COVID-19. Wearing a mask, I had already decided to go in, get what I needed, and leave immediately. Just as I had decided that was the plan, a gentleman arrived in a truck, parked across from me, got out of his pickup truck, and immediately said hello to me as if he knew me. Using an abundance of profanity with every sentence and an interesting joyful attitude, he greeted every person as we walked into the store. He began telling me about his latest marriage separation and his current relational problems. Continuing using harsh explicative language, he told me about his stroke that put him in the hospital for about 20 days with less than a 2% chance of surviving. Bragging on his excellent recovery with no side effects and expedited return to work, I asked why he thought he was spared such a traumatic experience. He commented he was not sure so I asked him what he thought would have happened to him in the afterlife if he had died. With obvious confidence, he said he was going to heaven. Surprised, I asked why he thought that would be his fate. He confessed he accepted Christ as Savior in his early twenties. He said he wanted to get back to church so I encouraged him that God had spared him for a reason and he had a special testimony to share of God’s grace on his life. I encouraged him to seek God again and to use his experience to spread the gospel. We prayed together and he thanked me for the encouragement as I thanked God for not letting me get distracted by focusing on myself and missing an opportunity to be His vessel.
I am thankful that God knows who needs a word of encouragement, even when there are days we do not feel like being His ambassadors.