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Walk in the Spirit,
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
The fruit of the Spirit is love.
Let us not become conceited.
GALATIANS 5:16, 22, 26
This Rest Stop is a special testimony of a special young man I met at a boys' home a few years ago.
Bobby is 27 years old and has the appearance of a typical young adult. However, Bobby has special needs and cannot live on his own. One of his joys is participating in Special Olympics basketball.
Since leaving the boys' home several years ago, Bobby has called me about every 6 months just to chat for a few minutes. The frequency of his calls gradually increased to about once every 2 months...then to once a month...then to once a week.
We never have long discussions. Bobby simply has the same God-given needs we do -- love and acceptance and worth. Just a couple of minutes of someone accepting him just as he is is always plenty for Bobby.
Bobby was recently let go from his job at a fast food restaurant. He was devastated because the manager said it was because he was "special."
TWISTED BY THE FLESH
With no job, Bobby started calling me several times daily, including weekends, until he could get through to me. And he usually called when I was in the middle of something. Some calls were close to midnight.
I started feeling frustrated and thinking, "He's got to stop this...he's interrupting important things I need to do." Fleshly frustration was getting to me.
I tried to not be frustrated, which fed right into the trap of the enemy of our souls. The enemy twisted God's Word to lure me into fleshly bondage.
The enemy reversed God's Word to say, "If you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh, you will walk in the Spirit." That reversal put the burden on me to achieve what Christ has already achieved for me -- freedom, including freedom to love.
The Spirit convicted me of my reacting conceited with Bobby, and re-directed my faith to God's Word that starts with "Walk in the Spirit" and ends with God's promise, "And then you shall not fulfill the flesh."
My "walk in the Spirit" included praying to the Lord and experiencing His affirmation of my true heart (Christ's heart in me) to want to edify Bobby, recognizing that Bobby is just as valuable to God as anyone in the world. I experienced peace. And the Lord freed me from fleshly frustration as He promised.
In my new-found freedom, the Spirit gave me the idea of asking Bobby to set aside Mondays and Thursdays at 3:00 pm as special times to talk each week, instead of his many random phone calls. I told Bobby we each can try to beat the other in initiating the phone call. He became excited and responded, "That sounds great, buddy!"
CLOSING
This past Thursday was our first sanctified call together...and Bobby beat me in initiating the call!
During our short call this past Thursday, the Spirit led me to ask Bobby to be my ministry partner for praying for a young man I meet with for discipleship counseling right after our call on Thursdays. Again, Bobby became excited, "I sure will, buddy!" And then he said, "Talk to you Monday!"
The young man in the subsequent discipleship counseling session received a special revelation from the Lord. It was an answer to Bobby's prayers, and the prayers of other partners!
The Lord has added a great purpose to Bobby's life and a great blessing to mine. Pray for Bobby, and for Bobby to find a job that will edify him. I pray for you.
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