Reaching the Marketplace for Jesus

God’s Timing Better than Satan’s Timing 

Chuck and I had driven up to Baltimore to make a visit that the outreach pastor had given us. After a 30 minute drive the address was a bust. With some time to kill we decided to head down to our favorite stomping grounds – Brooklyn, MD. We took the scenic route, down Charles and Hanover Streets. Once we made it to Patapsco we parked the car in front of a convenience store. 

We got out of the car, locked the doors and headed east. We hadn’t walked more than 25 feet when Chuck intercepted an elderly lady, handed her a tract and told her we were out inviting people to church. About 20 paces behind this lady was a younger woman walking with two small children. I zeroed in on her and told her that we were out inviting people to church. She told me that her and her daughters were going to the church over by the fire department. She told me about the youth program there and how her daughters really liked it. 

The front of the tracts we are using lately say, “What if?” I showed her the front of the tract (we hand it to them with the back facing up with the church service times and a map). I asked her if she knew whether or not she would go to heaven when she died. She told me about her husband dying of cancer a few months ago and whether he was in heaven. After a bit I told her only God knows if her husband was in heaven but I could show her how she could know that she will be there someday.  We went through the plan of salvation and she prayed to ask Jesus to be her Savior. 

As it turns out, the lady that Chuck had stopped to talk to was this woman’s mother. She got saved last night, also. After we went over some assurance verses and encouraged them to talk to their pastor on Sunday about their new decision to trust in Christ, the devil jumped in. 

To appreciate this next part you have to understand that it is my experience that whenever the devil interrupts an evangelistic encounter it is ALWAYS when the person is about to ask Jesus to be their Savior. But not tonight. As we were wrapping up our conversation a door opened a little above us at the top of a ramp. It was a bar that I have passed by on numerous occasions (I hadn’t even noticed that we were standing in front of it). One of the owners came out and told us that we couldn’t stand there and talk. I thought, “Devil, you’re too late – they’re already saved!” So we said our good-byes and continued down the street. 

We hadn’t walked another 30 yards when we came across four young ladies (I’m talking late teens at most) pushing babies in strollers down the street. Chuck handed one of them a tract and engaged them in conversation. When it came time to present the gospel he said to them, “You know, Bob is better at talking to large groups; he’ll tell you what you need to know.” After giving him a fake dirty look, I had the privilege to lead all four young mothers to Christ. One of the more touching and honest moments of the encounter was when I asked them (after sharing Romans 3:23) if they could give me an example of a sin. One of the young moms looked down at her baby and said, “Yeah, having babies before you are married.” Then she amended that and said, with a note of sadness in her voice, “Even having sex before you are married.” She was the first in the group to understand her need for a Redeemer. 

As we were heading back to the car, I saw one of the ever present drug dealers making a sale. The mischievous side of me kicked in and I walked up to the two men making the transaction. I recognized the drug dealer as someone I had tried to witness to in the past. The buyer walked away into the darkness as I handed the gang member a tract and said, “You still need to read this. It’ll tell you how to get to heaven.” He shook his head as he walked away – but he DID keep the tract and promised, again, to read it. 

On the way home I thought, the devil’s timing may have been off tonight but God’s timing was perfect. If we hadn’t gone to Baltimore first to “waste our time” we never would have passed by those six women tonight and they wouldn’t be on their way to heaven.