Best Bottle of Coke I've Ever Purchased

I woke up at midnight, wide awake. By 2:30am I’d finished emails, checked and rechecked Facebook, browsed YouTube, etc. It was too early to grind coffee (it would annoy the neighbors big time), so I figured I’d go down and fill up the car with gas and get a coke. I never just go buy a coke. But after tonight, perhaps I should more often...

As I get out of the car, I pass a man who had too much to drink and was about to drive. He told me he’d been kicked out for talking about Syria and telling the workers they don’t love America enough and should watch more football and baseball. I’m about to go inside and he tells me if I want a video to go viral on YouTube, just stay in there and film him going off and throwing stuff around.

I pay for my coke and gas, and warn them about the disgruntled dude pumping gas next to me. I walked out and the guy is finished but his car won’t start (thank God). He hooked up the cables to my car and his, and I told him, “Please don’t drive if you’re drunk. My cousin lost his life by being hit by a drunk driver.”

His very next words: “So my little brother committed suicide this weekend. F***er was on crystal meth and hung himself. Our mom found him that way.”

Boom. Just like that, I get a glimpse of what was boiling beneath the surface. This wasn’t about baseball, it was about a broken heart. He’s on his way from Seattle to Moreno Valley to be with the mom he and his half-brother had in common. It turns out they had different dads, both whom have been in and out of prison, on drugs, and quite frankly not being the dads their kids need them to be.

He was in his bros car, looking at his bros papers, listening to his favorite radio stations, and visiting the places his bro loved most – including the bars. He said all this is so fresh that he hadn’t cried yet, and didn’t ever plan on it either. Somewhere in there I asked if he had ever prayed, and he said he did once when he was 15, and that was about it. 

So about twenty minutes later, he looks me right in the eyes, Swisher Sweet in his mouth, and says, “I really need some God in my life right now.”

Needless to say, I talked about how God had changed my life – particularly after the death of my Cousin Brandon – and that Jesus came for the brokenhearted. Somehow I hoped those words might stick to his heart. I asked if he minded if I prayed, and as he sat in the driver’s seat he reached out the window and grabbed my hand and said, “Yes, please do.” I thanked God for having us meet at the perfect time, in the midst of all the hurt and pain and questions, and to be with him and his family and use this as an opportunity to change everything around and be there for his mom and siblings during this time. He also started praying, and even cried – not much, but just enough. Perhaps the healing can begin now. I pray that those tears will somehow start the mourning process and lead him to a new place of restoration and a new life.

After lots more talking about his realization that money and alcohol are leading him nowhere, he gave me a pen and one of his brother’s papers to write down my info. I wrote it down, along with a church that I know of in Moreno Valley, and the words: “Always remember – Jesus came for the brokenhearted.” (If he forgets everything that happened, at least he'll have that note.) We chatted some more, and after nearly two hours he seemed much more sober. We shook hands, he thanked me for my time and for listening to his story, and we parted ways.

No viral videos tonight, but perhaps a heart full of hope that will go viral in his life and the lives of his family instead. I don’t know what will ever come of that encounter, but it’s in God’s hands - it always has been. Join me in praying that my new friend might find Jesus, find healing from so much pain and deep wounds, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. May this "random" event serve as a pivotal moment that he will never forget. It's not about the coke bottle - it's about a divine encounter with the God of the universe in a gas station.

Jesus, thank you for what you’ve done in my own life, in the lives of others, and for what you’re about to do in my new friend’s life. Thank you for using what the enemy intends for bad and turning it into good. You’ve done it so many times, please do it again. And thank you for coming for the brokenhearted and searching for those who have gone astray. You are the Good Shepherd, and you know us by name. You comfort those who weep, and you make all things new. Amen.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17