“So I was feeling….I dunno…restless.”
“What do you mean, ‘restless?’ I asked my friend, Jack.
“Like…I’ve been stuck in a spiritual rut. Not really doing anything for the Kingdom. No spiritual passion. No hunger to witness. Just…stuck.”
Jack tends to be brutally honest. He also tends to be right in the middle—or just done with—a story worth hearing.
“So I gave God a dare.”
“You what?” I asked Jack, now more than a little curious.
“I admitted that I wasn’t really doing much of anything spiritually significant. Admitted that I hadn’t been witnessing and seemed to have lost the passion. While praying, I told God, ‘Tomorrow morning, I have to take a taxi from the train station to my downtown office. I’m daring you to make sure the taxi driver is somebody who needs to hear about Jesus. In fact, I dare you to line up a Muslim cab driver.’”
Jack’s in-your-face style made me a bit nervous. But also a bit jealous. I had to know what became of his dare.
“I got off the train and headed straight for the first cab in line. But as I was about to get in, the driver rolled down his window and said, ‘Take the second cab in line, not this one.’ I had no idea why."
“And so…?”
“So I got into the second cab, told the driver where I wanted to go and a lightbulb went off in my brain.”
“Why so, Jack?”
“Because I recognized the guy’s voice. I was pretty sure I’d ridden with him before. The more we talked, the more both of us realized this was not our first ride together.”
“But was he a Muslim?”
“From Pakistan!” Jack smiled. “The cool thing is, rather than argue about Islam (which I’ve done in the past) I offered to pray with him before I got out of the cab.”
“This guy didn’t agree to that did he?” I asked.
“Agree? He turned around in his seat and reached for my hand! I prayed that God would bless him greatly, bless his family greatly give him good health, and give him good honest money. I also prayed that He would come to know God…in Jesus’ name.”
“You were really with a Muslim and you really prayed in Jesus’ name?”
“I really did,” Jack mused, eyes sparkling and his voice tone considerably more reverent.
In the economy of God, it would appear some prayers—like prayers for lost people—may get priority over others. Why not prove it yourself? Jack dares you!
P.S. There’s a “Part Two” to Jack’s story that will astonish you…next time.