THE GROCERY STORE BAG BOY

Philippians 1:9-10 (NKJV) "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ."

One day, God employed me to share His presence with a local grocery store bag boy. The young man was in his early twenties, average size and good looking. We had met in our local church a few months prior. During that brief first introduction, the young man spoke very few words and avoided making direct eye contact with me. At first, I thought his behavior was a bit unusual. Until one day, when the young man’s father shared his personal testimony with me. The young man’s father said, “It was my son’s special needs that first brought me into a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Then, from time to time, I ran into the young man while shopping at our local grocery store. Each time I approached the gentle and soft spoken boy, he looked at his feet and said, “Hi. How are you?” And, then he briskly walked away.

Until one day, when something out of the ordinary happened. On this particular occasion, I encountered the young man while he was gathering grocery carts in the grocery store parking lot.  This time, before I approached him, I prayed, “Please Lord, help me to reach this sweet young man’s heart.”  Then, I walked over to where the young man stood. Suddenly, I found myself at a loss for words. I couldn’t even say the word hello. “H…h…e…l…lo,” I said. What was wrong with my tongue? Immediately, the young man looked me straight in the eye. His eyes welled with compassionate tears as he said, “Hi. How are you?”

I still couldn’t gain control over my tongue, so I remained quiet, while the young man began to speak. Through his stuttering, he expressed the feelings of his heart. Unbelievably, I understood every word.

While he spoke, I smiled a compassionate smile. I thanked God under my breath for silencing my tongue. For the first time in any conversation, I had walked away after saying only a few words. Oddly enough, I still felt as though I had reached out and shared God’s love.   

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