Subtle reminder

So i was having some free dinner with a friend at Chick-Fil-A at East Lake when all of a sudden a certain man walks behind me and just starts talkin to me.

Not to mention any names or go into any details, but let's just stay he was not in a perfect state of mind.  I am not judging or incriminating, i just want a more full picture painted of this story.  So as i begin to talk to this guy i discover, and he outright tells, he is not in a "perfect" drug free state of mind.  As we talk he just opens up and shares so much about himself.  He mentions that his birthday is next Tuesday and so i wish him an early happy birthday.  He mentions he is 26 and then he asks how old i am.  I tell him i am 21 and he asked if i got drunk and i said that i didn't.  So he jumps ship and says that he goes to church too.

I love the connections there.  Not being drunk on your 21st birthday means that you are a Christian, or at least go to church or are a Southern Baptist. Ha.

But he continues to open up and share his story and i mention that i go to Echo and North Metro, a non-denominational church, and he gets interested and says he would love to come, especially to Echo. 

Well after all of that and as we finish our conversation he says that we should hang out.  So i respond with "Yah, if you come to Echo we can sure hang out."  So we said a few more things and then i went on about eating my dinner as he gets his hand spun milkshake.

So i think to myself, why does he have to come to me for us to hang out?  Why does he have to be in the right state of mind for us to do things together?  Why is this about me and doing what is best for me?  I understand that there is some wisdom in being careful about how the hanging out would go down, but why does it have to be about me?

I immediately thought of Jesus and how he met others where they were at.  He met others in their greatest need's no matter the problems or junk that they had going on in their life.  I was thinking to myself, "What if I met others in their great need?"  How different would my life be?  How uncomfortable would i be?  As i walked away from this gentleman  with a phrase of basically come to me under these guidelines i thought of how selfish i was.

God seems to be reminding me of quite a few things lately and i will be sure to blog later about them, but as for now, he seems to be reminding me of this question of how different would my life be if i sacrificed myself and did things that would make me more like Jesus.  More like a man who trusts instead of tries.

What if i trusted in God to change lives including mine, and what if i trusted God to break me of my wants and meet others where they are at, where they are hurt, where they are struggling, and where there is death and pain.