God's Wonderful Work in the Most Unlikely Places

He walked into the pub and laid his Bible on the bar...

By Bryan Lowrie,
Dallas, TX

It is strange how God works, and it is wonderful at the same time. I’ll share an example. I got off work a couple of Friday’s ago and went to a local watering hole here in town. I met Leigh, my girlfriend, there. We had been there for about 20 minutes when I got a business call. I didn’t have the information that I needed and had to go out to my truck. As I was leaving, a guy sat down beside Leigh. I noticed him as I was walking out but didn’t think anything about it.

I was in the parking lot for about 15 minutes, and then I went back in. The guy was no longer sitting beside Leigh. We talked for awhile and Leigh mentioned that the guy’s wife had just filed for divorce and he was very upset and emotional. I thought, 'Well, that stinks. I’ve been through that, and I know how hard it is.'

A little while later he came back around and joined us. Leigh introduced us. After talking for a little while I told him that I was sorry about what he was going through. I could see the pain in his eyes. I shared with him that I had been through the same thing before and understood how painful it is. They have a 5 year old son.

He asked how I got through my divorce, and I said, “Faith---Faith in God that it would all work out. Sometimes we don’t know how but he has a plan as along as we believe in Him.” We continued to talk for awhile. He mentioned that he had started going to our church a couple of Sunday’s ago. I told him about our church and pastor. I stressed the importance of surrounding yourself with Christians. I offered to meet him for coffee any morning he wanted to just talk and read the Bible. He said he would like that.

The following Monday he called and wanted to know if we could get together that evening. Well, the Cowboy’s are playing the Eagles on Monday Night Football. I looked up at the sky and aksed, “God, why tonight? Don’t you know your team is playing?” But, this wasn’t on my timetable, it is on His. So I called the man back, and told him that I would be happy to meet him. I did mention the Cowboys game, and, thankfully, he too was a Cowboy’s fan and had no intention of meeting during the game. He was hoping for 6:00, before the game started. That was a small prayer answered!

At 6 p.m., I walked into the local watering hole with my Bible in hand not really knowing what to expect and really not having expected to meet in this particular environment on this particular subject. But, I had faith, and I walked on in anyway.

We talked for awhile, and then he turned and looked me in the eyes and said, “Thank you.”

I said, “You’re welcome, but for what?”

He said, “For Friday night.”

“Okay, anytime,” I replied.

“No, you don’t understand,” he said. “I was saved Friday night.”

I asked him what he meant exactly. He told me that he had a powerful feeling come over him after our conversation and there was a huge burden lifted off of his shoulders. He didn’t understand it, but it was definitely there. He called his family and friends and told everyone he knew. I told him that was called being “radically” saved. I told him that was fantastic! I was very happy for him. I shared with him the importance of surrounding himself with the right people to stay on the right path but he was in for a wonderful journey.

He told me that he knew now that most of the problems in his life were because of him, and he finally knew why. He had been molested by their family doctor 17 years earlier. He had lived with that without ever telling anyone. After Friday, he confided in his brother only to find out that his brother had been molested as well. Both of them had harbored that horrible secret without knowing that the other had the same. They were finally able to release that emotion with each other after so many years.

The story gets better

A woman had been sitting behind us listening to our conversation. She asked if she could join us. We were at the bar and through the course of our conversation I had referred to Scripture a number of times. She apologized for having eaves dropped on our conversation, but she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not only that but she saw that “Book” sitting on the bar and was shocked that there were two Christians at the bar talking about what we were talking about and reading a Bible. She said she had been molested as well and had never told anyone before.

She sat down on the other side of him and they commenced to having an in-depth conversation about that for about half an hour. When it was all said and done, he looked at me and said, “Man. This is really real!” I said “Yes, it sure is.”

He said, “You know, I came here looking for help and ended up helping someone else.” I said, “Yep, God works in ways you would never dream and tonight is proof!” We stayed until half time, and then parted ways. He was in church the following Sunday. He is trying to work it out with his wife and now has a new found hope.

I didn’t really do much. God put him in front of me, I opened the door, and he walked through the door.

Isn't God wonderful?