When God Plans Your Friday Night (ie better than karaoke)

I was out for a night on the town with a friend last night when God did something unexpected and amazing! We were walking along the main street downtown (Avenida Sol) and joking around about finding a karaoke place when suddenly we heard a bunch of commotion up ahead. My friend asked a passerby what was going on and we were informed that some drunk lady was making a scene. My friend surprised me by turning to me and saying: "Let's go see if we can help. Usually people in these situations need a lot of prayer."

Now, I may claim to want to be used by God in whatever situation but I normally avoid drunk people. So, with lots of questions I followed my friend to where the woman was standing in the street. She was yelling: "I just want to die!! I just want to die!!!" She had been trying to throw herself in front of oncoming taxis. My friend pulled her from the street and made her sit down. He took a hold of her arms and kept telling her to calm down and that she did not need to end her life. Her husband and small child were there too. It was a great fight to break through this woman's drunk yelling but my friend patiently talked to her and then prayed with her. I just crouched there and started to sing a song of peace over this woman because you could tell that this desire to die was a spiritual oppression. Finally the woman stopped yelling and prayed a prayer with my friend giving Jesus control over her death and life. Afterwards she just kept going on about how she had wanted to die. The husband shared about their sorrows - how close people around them were dying, their close neighbors and family and you could just see the grief as he sat there and cried. I cried with them and we prayed for both of them and they repeated a prayer with my friend surrendering their lives to God!!! What touched me most was that the woman took my hand as we prayed and I could just feel their pain!!

Today we are planning on visiting this couple in their home. My prayer is that God will use the seeds that were planted last night. That He will completely free them from the oppression of death and that from this point onward they will have NEW LIFE!!! Death is swallowed up in victory!!!! AMEN

So the Lord taught me an important lesson last night and I saw Jesus in my friend. He was not afraid to face a difficult situation because he knew that what these people really needed was God's presence. God really used this unexpected event to shake some things up in my heart and make me see my fear. Why should I be afraid when He really wants to use my life to touch others?? Why should I let fear block the work of the Spirit?? Oh Lord, break open my heart that I would love others not just with an idea but practically with tears, prayers and in the middle of where they are at!!!