God Orchestrated It All

We met at the local Mexican restaurant for lunch. Ordered our #2 meals and commenced to eating the chips and salsa set before us. We dove into conversation.

Frank* and I have been meeting for lunch now for over 10 years. Sometimes weeks between meetings. Sometimes more frequent. But the friendship has remained solid. We usually take turns paying for the meal. We laugh. We talk serious. We complain about the state of our country. We discuss theory and design.

Lunches Are A Platform

Frank is not a believer. At least not that I can tell. But he is definitely being pursued by a loving heavenly Father. Most lunches are a platform for surface discussions: the weather, politics, a good book one of us has recently read, our iPhones, etc. Occasionally we will stumble upon a deep, eternity-provoking exchange of words that ushers us into realms of new and exciting aspects of the human condition.

Our lunch at the Mexican restaurant this particular day was the meaningful kind. Frank shared from his heart. He explained how his aging parents had become very angry and verbally abusive. His brother and sister, who did not live near the parents, did not fully understand or appreciate the hours and hours of attention Frank had given mom and dad for years. And now, it seemed all of them were at his throat as the parents’ move to the nursing home brought up baggage that should have been addressed over 30 years prior.

“All the pain he shared was similar to what Christ experienced.”

As I sat across the booth from Frank and listened to his pain while eating my soft taco, refried beans and rice, it hit me. All the misunderstanding and pain and abuse Frank shared was similar to what Christ experienced. This insight was so profound I couldn’t help share it. The words nearly fell out of my mouth.

A Parallel Of Circumstance

I explained how Christ was spit upon, beaten, whipped with a “cat of nine tails” all for coming to earth to save the very people who were doing those things to him. Frank was only trying to help out his parents as their health failed. In return he was yelled at. He was almost pummeled by his brother. He was even kicked by his mother on New Year’s Day.

“You know how Christ feels, Frank,” I said. “And more importantly, Christ knows how YOU feel.”

It was a watershed moment. The ease of sharing the Gospel was abundant. The receptivity was wide open. My faith grew a quantum leap. And I will forever be changed because God orchestrated it all.

*Name changed