You may or may not believe what I am about to tell you. In fact, if I heard this story from someone else, I probably wouldn’t believe them either or at least search for an alternative explanation. But it happened to me, so I am firm in my conviction that what I say is true. I am satisfied with my position whether you believe me or not, and so I am comfortable telling you my little story. I have never publicly told anyone this before.  

Back when it was just starting to get cold this last winter, my wife and I went out to eat at a relatively new pizza place downtown called Pies & Pints. We parked our car in front of the First Baptist Church, walked down the street and got a table early before the dinner rush.  

As always, there was just too much good stuff on the menu and so we over-ordered. I asked for a large order of pulled pork nachos, and My wife got a small cheese pizza (which isn’t really small at all). After a few minutes of righteously stuffing ourselves, we sat back miserably in our chairs and waited for the check to come. As I started piling food into the to-go boxes, I noticed that both were completely full. It was enough food for two more entire meals! I felt a small pang of guilt, thinking about people who have to scrounge everyday just to eek by. Then a strong thought popped into my head. I saw a black man, standing in front of the First Baptist Church who was asking me for my food. Across the table My wife turned to me, as if she was reading the thoughts directly from my mind, and said “we should give this to someone.” As we were leaving Pies and Pints, I felt a firm conviction that there was indeed a man waiting for us, and he would take our food. This knowledge in my head was as certain as if he had called me up on the phone and told me that he was going to be there.  

Now, it’s important for me to tell you. My wife and I had been walking a 2.5-mile loop downtown every night after work during the entire summer and fall. We had gained a lot of experience recognizing and avoiding career panhandlers who lay in waiting along our regular route. We don’t like panhandlers. THEY MAKE US MAD! And we did everything in our power to avoid them. We got pretty good at recognizing their faces, and their normal hangouts. Some panhandlers will claim that they want food, but what they really want is your money. In fact, they will get outrageously rude if you try to give them food instead of money. Most of them, however, will just aggressively “bum” you for money.  

So back to the story… 

Lo and behold, our mutual premonition (as I am sure you surmised) became true. Walking to the car in the dark cool night, a black man stood on the corner in front of the First Baptist Church of Lexington. I didn’t see him at first, but he called out to me “Hey you! I’ve seen them boxes before Haha!” He laughed as he pointed at my to-go boxes. I had never seen him before, and I haven’t seen him since. Without a word between us, I walked right over to him and placed the boxes in his hands. He was so gracious, thankful, and excited. It was exactly as I had imagined in the restaurant only a few minutes before. We had NEVER done ANYTHING like this before (or ever had the intention). We went on our way without another word between us. We got in our car and drove home.  

I am convinced that God was speaking to us that night. That man was hungry and had been praying for food, and God answered through our kindness. I think it is natural for human beings to see glimpses of the future. Maybe most of us don’t recognize it, but I think we do have at least a small amount of prescience. Some of you will argue that precognition is the result of our subconscious taking subtle cues from our environment. While I believe that is very true in the vast majority of cases, this situation was very different. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what was going to happen. Perhaps God never really “speaks” to any of us (in the literal sense), but He does give us subtle warnings, cues, and insights. You might scoff “Why doesn’t He speak directly to us when we are in trouble?” I think it has something to do with our free-will to make choices on our own. Any more direct hints than a vague vision would be violating that principle.  

Do you believe I have shared this story with you because I am now claiming to be “Scott the Bum-Whisperer?” Absolutely not! I claim to be nothing of the sort. But I can tell you my walk with God has been stronger this year than ever before. I have been through tremendous pain, and I have relied upon Him to guide me, give me wisdom, give me strength, compassion, and take away that pain. God has revealed a plan to me several times in the course of the last several months. It’s not what I expected or even wanted. But it is there, and it is good. Whatever you believe, there is a higher power in the universe. There is a reason why Alcoholics Anonymous requires its members to seek a higher power. You can’t do it all by yourself, and while others may be well meaning and truly want to help you, they have their own set of troubles to deal with. God is the rock that you can always depend on.  

I felt compelled to write this. Not sure why, but I felt like I couldn’t move forward unless I told this story. But I just want to put this out there. If any one of you is experiencing troubles in your life, there is always hope. And never pass up an opportunity to do good for someone else. They may really need it!