“I need to get saved”

“I told my wife I need to get saved,” he said.

You can imagine my surprise. I had met Mike, the hotel van driver, about five minutes earlier. It was the beginning of a divine encounter between Mike and me. Hearing him say it, I began to feel a little nervous — it just seemed too easy, and I did not want to mess it up. After all, I considered myself something of an evangelist, and I was taking a class in personal evangelism at the time. I had to be able to seal the deal, right? Thankfully, the Holy Spirit took over, and I quickly realized I had nothing to do with sealing the deal. That was between the Lord and Mike. I had very little to do with this encounter at all, and I believe it is a great example of how the Holy Spirit prepares people to receive the Gospel.

I had felt the draw of the Holy Spirit to share Jesus with Mike from the moment I got into his van — though the miracle had been in the works long before that. I work as an airline pilot, and this was the first day of a three-day trip. The day started a little unusually: my trip had been broken up for operational reasons, so I began by myself with a deadhead flight — riding as a passenger in order to be in position to fly a later flight. It seems that was not the only reason I had been brought to Wichita that day. I also arrived at a time the hotel was not expecting me, so after calling them I had to wait a while for the shuttle. And Mike may not have been the usual driver, because when he arrived, the side door of the van — the one I would normally use to sit in the back — was locked. Mike asked if I minded sitting up front with him. I did not mind, and I climbed in, happy to finally be on my way.

We began to talk, and for the first few minutes I just listened to him tell me about his jobs. Driving for the hotel was part-time; he normally built aircraft for Boeing. I enjoyed listening, and I could have talked about airplanes for a long time. But hours earlier, over lunch, I had prayed that the Lord would use me that day. I had to bring up Jesus.

The Lord helped me turn the conversation to Him when I mentioned that I also have another job: preaching. I spoke briefly about filling in at Calvary since Brother Bill went to be with the Lord, and about the jail ministry I lead. Then Mike shared that just a couple of days earlier he had been in the hospital, and the doctors still were not sure what was wrong with him. He talked about it for a few minutes, and I just listened. That is one of the things I learned in my evangelism class: when we witness about Jesus, we should be committed to listening just as much as sharing.

Thankfully there was a slowdown in traffic, and it seemed like a good time to share the Gospel with Mike. I shared it as simply as I could, knowing he had been to church before and had family members who were Christians. Because he was driving and needed to watch the road, I did not draw out the Three Circles — I simply described them. God made a perfect world, but because of Adam we now live in a fallen one. We live in and around sin and become broken ourselves because of it. That is why we have sickness, death, crime, and hate. But there is good news — that is what “Gospel” means. Good news. God made a way for us to be brought back into His perfect creation, through Jesus. God sent His only Son to take our place on the cross.

I asked Mike if he understood that. He said he did. I asked if he believed it. He said, “I do.” That is about when we arrived at the hotel, and as we sat there before getting out, I asked, “Would you like to receive Jesus now?” He said yes — with tears in his eyes, yes. I asked if he would pray with me, and I explained that prayer is genuine conversation with God: you can talk to God just like you talk to me. We prayed, and he accepted Jesus. Praise the Lord! I did not do anything but share what I knew. It was a blessing to meet Mike — at that moment, the newest Christian in the universe.

I know the Lord had been working on Mike long before I got there, and I am so thankful He allowed me to be the one in that van that night. I learned several lessons through this; here are two. First, the Lord knows what He is doing. I did not give a perfect presentation of the Gospel — what I have written here is probably more complete than what I actually said in the moment. Second, Mike had to want it. The Lord had me there and willing to share, but He had also been working on Mike. Mike did not need to be convinced; he just needed to know what to do — how to repent, receive Jesus, and trust in Him the way you would trust a parachute. Often my greatest gift is simply the gift of availability. Being willing is what God wants. He can work with less, but He always works with the willing.