Not My Story, but It Could Have Been

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

II Corinthians 12:9

A few days ago, fellow blogger Katie posted on her blog, “Encouragement for You,” (katiesencouragementforyou) a story that I believe epitomizes a perfect testimony. It has self-deprecating humor (the best kind, in my opinion), an entertaining story/parable, good theology, and a promising ending. But enough from me, I’ll let the story speak for itself:

A True Story

PUBLISHED ON April 2, 2024

Along time ago, and far, far away in the land of New York City, three young women decided to have an adventure. 🙂  They were on staff with a Christian organization, and their summer assignment was in Wildwood NJ.  They borrowed a car, and away they drove to New York City.  Actually, I was one of those women. 

New York City was only a couple of hours away–we left early in the morning and drove into the city.  One of the staff gals was from New York City, and she directed us around the city.  However, she was only used to taking the subway, not driving the car in the city.  I actually drove the car.  The other staff gal was from Hawaii.  

As we looked for a place to park the car, I noticed this sign that said, “No standing”.   I asked the girl from New York City, “What does that sign mean?”   She said, “I don’t know.”   I said, “Maybe that’s a sign for the ‘hookers’, letting them know they can’t stand on these streets?”  (Yes, as I write these words, I am laughing so hard at my naïve, younger self–who had spent my 13th summer in New Orleans, and so thought I knew all about prostitutes standing on the street.)

We ended up parking underneath one of these signs—as cars don’t stand–they park–at least that is what we reasoned.  We went off to experience New York City for the day.  We went to see if there were any Broadway plays we could get tickets for the day–there weren’t.  So we skipped our way through the city, singing, “New York, New York….”, having the time of our lives.

Hours, and hours later, we went back to our car, and ……it was gone!!   Fortunately the New Yorker staff woman understood the subway system, and knew where cars went, when they were towed.  It was near the time when the parking garage that kept towed cars would be closing, and we found ourselves on the subway traveling to get our car out of being towed. 

We joined the long line of people waiting to pay to get their cars out of the garage.  As we waited we started talking to the people in line with us.  We started talking to them about Jesus, about Him being our Savior, and making it possible for us to have a relationship with God the Father.   One of the people we were talking to, told us that he was a Pastor’s son, but he didn’t believe in sin, and consequences for sin, or a need for anyone to pay for our sins.

We told him the story of our car being towed.  I told him I did not believe I was doing something wrong, but I still had a consequence for what I did wrong–I had to pay the tow.  If I could not pay, I would be in serious trouble.

I told him, he might not “believe” in sin, but he still was going to have a consequence for it, and if he couldn’t pay, he was going to be in serious trouble.

I told him that we were all in serious trouble—that in a sense we were all appearing before the judge to pay the consequences for our sin, only to find out that the judge was our Dad, and while he was a just Judge, he was also a loving Dad.  Therefore, he came down and handed each of us the amount we needed to pay off our fine, as none of us had the amount to pay it off.

That got his attention.   He told us he had heard a lot of sermons, but I was making sense to him.  

I told him that God was just and loving—and had to satisfy both parts of His character.  Jesus’ death on the cross did both things.  “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23  Instead of what we deserve—God the Son took our death—and our unrighteousness–and He gave us His life–and His righteousness.   It wasn’t a fair exchange, but it was the only exchange that would reveal who God is.

God did pay the penalty for each of us.  He has given the gift of eternal life to each of us.  Yet, He will never force us into a relationship with Him.  We each have a choice of whether to accept His love or reject it.

The man told us that for the first time in his life, he understood the message of the gospel, and that he was going to be re-evaluating what he believed.

We ended up getting our car out of the parking garage, and traveling back to Wildwood.  On the way home, one of the girls said, “Never tell anyone about our car getting towed, ok?”    🙂  Sorry! 🙂 

May you be encouraged!!

I commented:

Oh, Katie, you should ABSOLUTELY tell what happened to you – to as many people as possible! What a great story, and what a reward for your humility, when a lot of people might have stood quietly and gotten their vehicle out as soon as possible and hoped nobody found out about it. (It’s embarrassing how many of my God stories start out with me, doing something dumb.  )

The gospel isn’t about us and our dignity, it’s about God’s grace – which comes out best when we’ve screwed up! No one can accuse you of ulterior motives for what you shared, because it was shared at the expense of your own dignity. You were identifying with that sinner, not talking down to him. What a perfect setup. I bet you were the answer to that young man’s parents’ prayers.

Prayer: Lord, I am amazed at the myriad ways Your plan unfolds in each of our lives, such as when a young girl in the big city messed up on the same day a man messed up who needed to hear the gospel in a way that related to his sin (messing up)! Thank You for this divine perspective, that even when we fall short, You redeem the situation and turn it into a case of amazing grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.