A Man of An Unexpected Encounter

I often times think about the many ways God pursues us and it drives me to tears. He really is relentless in His pursuit and I feel so honored to have been adopted into His family. Whenever I think about how difficult this journey is, I think about how God pursued me, who I was before and how He has changed me, how His Word is always true and never fails. Walking by faith and not by sight can be incredibly difficult amidst all of the depravity and uncertainty today. Thus to have continuous faith and consistent integrity is truly valuable and reveals the glory of God.

Reading through Isaiah 55 and carefully meditating on God’s words and thinking about how important every detail is to Him, I felt as if I had a faith boost. The New International Version calls this chapter Invitation to The Thirsty whereas my NKJV bible deems it An Invitation to Abundant Life.  Whichever is most appropriate, this chapter is profound and abundantly meaningful. It is a reflection of God’s tender mercies and grace. Of course, this isn’t the only text in the scriptures that displays God’s character so beautifully but what stood out to me is when He says “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (v. 11). What a delightful depiction of how God’s word never fails and always prospers. Amen? It’ll make sense why this stood out to me personally if you continue to read.

When I was about 20 years old I was approached by a homeless man in a McDonald’s by Yankee Stadium. My immediate assumption was that this man was going to ask me for money and I was prepared to flee the scene in a New York minute. However, something unexpected happened that changed my life forever. He began to prophesy. I was startled. Hence, I never imagined a homeless man would speak prophetically to me or anyone really. A man of an unexpected encounter. Most importantly, I was not a Christian at the time. My life was very different. Yet it was as if this man knew me and he came to do the will of God by sharing with me how much God loved me and how God called me for a specific purpose. Although I didn’t know God, at this time in my life I was searching for answers. What boggled me, even more, is when this man started mentioning how I was going to marry someone that is going to help me fulfill this mission of sharing the gospel and making disciples. There were several things that were difficult to process at the time:

1. I’m going to surrender my life to Christ? What does that mean? I’m not “religious.”
2.  I’m going to get married? Eeew (haha)
3. I’m going to have a ministry with my husband? That sounds like a lot. How is that even possible?

So there were many things that were perplexing and frightening in all honesty. However, in retrospect, I see how that prophecy is unfolding. The homeless man finishes by saying, “I don’t want your money. What you will do for the kingdom is more valuable than your money.” God had been trying to reach me for many years prior to this (I’ll share more of my story in future posts) and for once this encounter really stood out to me. It was as if God was waving a flag in my face at this point in such an overt way while still manifesting Himself unexpectedly. It reminds me of how Jesus encounters His followers. He didn’t warn them He just approached them while they were pre-occupied and said: “follow me”. Isn’t it amazing how the creator of all things can be so loving that He persistently pursues us, mere human beings in the most subtle ways? Praise God! I spent days thinking about this encounter and processing through it after it happened.

A year later, I gave my life to Christ, unexpectedly. In my heart, I have this knowing that it’s what I’ve desired my entire life and that I’ve made the best decision I could ever make. God’s Word really never returns void. If God can open up the mouth of a donkey and speak through him (Numbers 22:21-39), He can use anyone, anything or any circumstance He wills to reach His children. Which means we have work to do. Jesus says “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37). Let’s continue to seek God on how He wants to use us. Nonetheless, I thank God for using that man to prophesy over me. I thank God for that man’s boldness. If it wasn’t for the many ways the Holy Spirit has encountered me, I would not be the professing Christian I am today. Now I have an indelible story to share with anyone willing to listen.

In the event that my church is allowing us to share how we came to faith in our small groups, I cannot help to reflect on this very prominent moment in my life and I felt so moved by the Holy Spirit to share this with you all. Saints, in what ways have God pursued you?

God bless you and thanks for reading!

Author: Vanessa Mack

A Christian millennial, fascinated with grace, passionate about learning, tech, finance, expressive writing and encouraging others. View all posts by Vanessa Mack