Randy Winton

Not long ago I heard someone praying the following words: “Lord, You know everything that is going to happen today. Some may be good, some may be bad … regardless, You know everything I will face today. So, please give me the wisdom to handle those things in a way that honors You.”

I liked that prayer so much, I stole it.

And a lot of days as I pray with my family before we leave the house, those three sentences are  part of my prayer. So, as two sons get dropped off at middle school, one at the elementary school, the baby stays home with Rachel and I go off to work, I want us to be covered with the knowledge that God does indeed know all that is going to happen and that He would give each of us the wisdom and desire to handle our day in accordance with His guidelines.

As I look back over the months since I first heard that prayer, I wonder how many times I actually meant that last part. You know, the stuff about my handling those “things” in a way that honors Him. Because, frankly, I’m not so sure I’ve honored Him many times by the way I’ve handled “life.”

It just seems like too many times we look at things from a not-so-Godly perspective; well, at least I do. Until recently, I’ve rarely looked at situations that brought stress or fear or hurt or anger and saw an opportunity to present a God-like perspective. I’m not talking about some “feel-good, Walton family, Sunday School answer” kind of thing. Just something genuinely right coming out of something genuinely wrong and it has nothing to do with me.

That’s the problem … too much “me”. So, sometimes God does His thing and somehow we don’t get in the way for a change and something pretty cool happens.

This past Sunday, a 13-year-old kid decided the reward was worth the risk when he covered his face with a bandana, walked across my front lawn, stepped up on my front porch and proceeded to steal Caleb’s bike. Did I mention it was 3 o’clock in the afternoon?

Caleb just so happened to see some movement on the porch and I went to the door only to see this kid’s back as he began to peddle away. So my 45-year-old barefoot self sprinted out in the rain and caught him as he got to my mailbox. In my shock at what this kid had done, I just let him go with the warning: “Son, if you ever step foot on my property again, I’ll call the police.”

“Yes sir.” And he was gone.

After a while, the reality hit, and I heeded the advice of my equally-stunned family and called the police. An officer looked for him, but failed to find him. I decided I’d go look for myself and sure enough, within 5 minutes of my driving around the neighborhood, there he was …

On ANOTHER bike!

I stopped him and was surprised he didn’t take off. He didn’t run, didn’t try to get away;  just sat there and talked to me. When he looked up at me, I knew why … there was no hope in his eyes. Not one ounce. Just a gaping void.

How sad.

I went through the whole deal about “today it’s a bike, tomorrow it will be cars … you’re going to wind up dead or in jail. Do you want that?” As he lowered his head and looked at the ground, he whispered, “No sir.”

 At that moment, I didn’t want that either.

I mean, I did want that 30 minutes ago when he was just another thief with his face covered violating my family and my home. But now … now he wasn’t wearing that bandana. Now, he was just a 13-year-old kid who had no hope.

And the God Who knew everything that would happen that day, the God Who knew what I would be facing at that moment … yes, the same God to Whom I prayed for the wisdom to handle such moments in a way that would honor Him … that same God answered my prayer.

So, as the police were pulling up to question this hopeless kid, he looked at me one last time. My voice softened and my words were chosen carefully. “Son, I want you to know something. God loves you more than you’ll ever know. And this is not His plan for your life. Do you understand?” He nodded his head.

I truly hope he understood, because no one may have ever told him that before. It was obvious no one had ever modeled that for him, which means he isn’t unlike so many in our world today, whose very lives and families are being ruined by another thief; another thief who wants to steal from you and me as well.

In John 10, Jesus is explaining about the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd knows each sheep by name and they know his voice. This shepherd will give up his life to protect his sheep and he will leave the flock just to find one that is lost. His protection is important because there is “one” out there whose only wish is to destroy those sheep. So, in John 10:10, Jesus explains: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”  

The thief takes life. Jesus gives it. There is no hope with such a thief; by contrast, life in Christ is rich, full and joyful. It overflows with meaning and potential and blessing. People with Christ in their lives have hope and there is life bursting from their eyes.

The Thief can’t stand it, so his mission is focused on ruining lives, breaking up families … and tearing the hope away from 13-year-old kids.

So those of us who have experienced and remember what it was like to have no hope, now have an opportunity to share the greatest gift we’ve ever been given … the hope we now have in Jesus Christ. There are just too many empty, hard hearts; too many eyes void of life and joy; too many lives left ravaged by The Thief.

Too many for us to sit around in the comforts of our padded pews and air-conditioned buildings and not answer the questions for which their souls are crying out: “Where is the hope?”  I Peter 3:15 says: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

What happened Sunday afternoon is not in any way something I did. At the time, I had no idea why my heart was telling me to go look for him. To be perfectly honest, I’d rather just watch the Little League World Series with my own sons. But one thing I do know … nothing catches God by surprise. His prompting me to find that kid was nothing if not an answer to that simple but powerful prayer I stole some time back.

Now, my prayer is that 13-year-old kid – and others like him – will have somebody in their lives who will tell them about this Good Shepherd Who was willing to die for them; Who went out looking for the lost and Who knows each one by name.

And The Thief will no longer be able to steal the souls of our kids.