Pancakes, Tattoos, and Holy Spirit

My friends and I walk into a random shop to get a price for a small tattoo of a lightbulb, something we felt reflected our race so far. The man who worked the bar, C Bass, grew up in the states and acted as our translator. While waiting to talk to the artist we told him all about what we were doing. He was really curious and asked lots of questions. He said a group of missionaries came in last month who could’ve also been world racers and prayed for him. We told him we loved to sing together so he pulled out his guitar and a box for me to keep a beat on and we had a jam session right there in the parlor. After a couple hours we decided it was too expensive for the small ones, but our friend wanted a different one so we made an appointment for the following day.

When we got there the next day, we quickly realized this would be a long process. While our friends stayed behind, Raychel and I went with Sebastian to find a good coffee shop and some pancakes. Our conversation quickly turned to relationships and he explained that he had just gone through a breakup. He put on his tough guy act and pretended like he was fine just using girls and not getting attached.

I finally said, “that doesn’t make you happy.”

“Sure it does. I just live in the moment, have a good time.”

A boldness suddenly took over me. “bullshit,” I said.

He stared at me dumbfounded. “What?”

“l said that’s bullshit. You’re not happy. That doesn’t really satisfy you, does it?”

He looked at us and admitted, “no, it doesn’t…I’m really lonely.”

“But you’re not alone.” I say. “Jesus is always with you.”

“I’m sorry” he says, “I have a hard time accepting that.”

I tell him, “I think that’s because you see God the way you see people, and people are messed up. God is perfect. I can promise you that He will never betray you, and He will never abandon you.”

Raychel and I start explaining to him about our pasts and how Jesus offered us a freedom and peace we couldn’t understand. That we felt complete even when our relationship status was the dreaded “single.”
As we continued to speak truth over him there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, Holy Spirit wasn’t messing around. Raychel explained that even when you know Jesus personally, that doesn’t mean life is suddenly perfect, the difference is that in the midst of turmoil you still have hope.

I can see the realization on his face as the wheels begin to turn. “It’s true. I go out with my friends, we do fun things, everyone envy’s my life…but at the end of the day..I’m just alone.”

“That’s because nothing of this world can satisfy you”, Raychel says. “He created us to be in relationship with Him, and until we have that we feel incomplete.”

C Bass is trying to resist saying things like “my hands are too dirty,” “He doesn’t love me, you don’t know what I’ve done.”

Raychel brought up the messy characters God used in the Bible, “look at Paul, Moses, look at Kind David.
I added, “the Christians who’ve impacted me the most have been people just like you. God doesn’t use us in spite of our brokenness, He uses us because of it. He has something amazing in store for you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Ok” I said, “you don’t have to believe me, but it’s never going to stop. God is pursuing you. You’ve overdosed three times and you’re still here. He sent the priest to you when you were a kid, He sent a group of missionaries last month to pray for you and He’s sent us. He’s going to keep pursuing you until you say yes. You can either keep being miserable and wasting time, or you can accept His love now.”

He looked at me, tears in his eyes.
“You’re feeling something aren’t you?” I asked him excitedly.

His eyes were huge, “yes, in my chest. I don’t know what it is.”

I laughed, a huge grin on my face, “It’s Jesus. We feel it too.”

The three of us looked at each other, emotion all over our faces. An instantaneous bond between us. “This is the kind of community God wants for us while we are here on this earth,” I explained, “it’s beautiful, easy and pure..and it’s only a cheap imitation of what He offers you personally.”

We walked back to the parlor side by side. He looked like he was on cloud nine, a huge difference from earlier. I laughed and said “look at you! Look at that smile!”

“I know!” He laughed, “I can’t stop it, I’ve never felt this way before.”
Once inside he told our friends he didn’t know what was happening but he was having a great time. His pupils were dilated like he was literally high on Jesus. While waiting for our friend to finish, we danced, laughed and helped him process what he was feeling.

On our way out we asked to pray for him. “Under the lightbulb”, he said. “I didn’t understand the meaning when you explained it before, but I do now.”

Jesus is cool like that. Using tattoos and pancakes and ordinary people like us to set captives free.

It was so simple, and yet so powerful…
like turning on a light bulb. 

Please be in prayer for our new friend, C Bass. I know God has big plans for him, but because of that the enemy is working twice as hard to dismantle his joy. Pray that we can continue to pour into him so he can learn who he is as a son of God, worthy of His love.

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”