It was February a few years ago, and I was driving from my home in the Welsh mountains to Birmingham to go to the annual Gift Trade Fair at the National Exhibition Centre. I owned a small Gift Shop not far from my home and was going to see the latest things and place orders for the coming months. It was a Sunday, and although most Sundays I was preaching at one of a number of churches, it was a day off for a change.
We set off bright and early in my little red Citroen Visa, going through Hereford and across country towards Kidderminster. The car had served me well for a long time but had been struggling somewhat for a while. We were not far from Kidderminster when it happened. Happily driving along, looking forward to a day in a huge Aladdin's Cave, when suddenly --- Kerlunk! The car slowed and the noise told me that it was most definitely not a happy sound. I have a firm belief that when a car starts to make a noise the level of expense to put it right is equal to some extent to the level of the noise itself.
One of the wheels was very hot, and there was no question about driving another metre, so I 'phoned for the AA Breakdown Service to come and help. After a while I saw the big yellow truck coming along the road and, with a feeling of relief, hoped against hope that we might soon be on our way once more.
It was once the truck had stopped and I saw the driver jumping down from the cab that I had misgivings. He was built like a truck himself, absolutely huge, and dressed in black leather. Just to finish off his appearance as a 'Hairy Biker' he had a wild-looking black beard. I don't mind telling you, I felt distinctively nervous!
After checking the car over he shook his head and I knew then that it was a hopeless case. The car would have to be winched up on to the back of the truck and then both it and us would have to be driven back home. There was not to be any Gift Fair for us that day!
The problem was that I felt nervous about the driver with whom we would have to share the cab, but then I decided that I had the answer. We would climb into the second part of the cab which was behind the driver's section. See, there's always an answer to every problem! That is, unless God deems otherwise. In this case He obviously did, and as I reached up to open the rear door of the cab the driver said that we should travel up front with him. Oh! That made me more nervous than ever!
Despite all, we dutifully did as we were told and climbed in the front. I generously allowed my wife to sit in the middle between the driver and myself, and wedged myself firmly against the door. 'I hope he doesn't start to talk,' I thought to myself, but my unspoken thoughts were in vain, for the driver looked round and started up a conversation by asking where we were headed. I told him about the Gift Trade Fair at the NEC, adding that it was something that I had looked forward to, especially as it was on a rare (for me) Sunday off.
It was then that the 'God factor' really kicked in, for he turned to me and said that he didn't usually drive the truck on a Sunday. I imagined that he probably went off to some biker gathering or enjoyed himself terrorising an old lady somewhere. He went on to explain that the reason was because he was usually preaching in his church. It turned out that he was very involved in a ministry programme that helped young drug addicts to get clean and back on the right path.
I felt so ashamed of myself at that moment, for I had been guilty of 'judging the book by its cover' in the most blatant manner, something which we are taught about and warned about in the Bible in the Book of James:
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My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favouritism. for if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinction among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? ..... But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by law as transgressors. (James 2: 1-3, & 9).
The rest of the journey, which lasted almost two hours, was one of the best that I ever went on, for that driver was truly a dedicated man of God, and we went on to speak about the Lord with him all the way back home.
God really taught me a lesson that day! In fact, apart from reiterating the point that we should never judge people by their appearance, He also well and truly hammered home the point that we should practise what we preach as well!
If it was not for that leather-clad guy we would not have had such an enjoyable journey. The car breaking down and missing the Gift Fair didn't matter at all in the end, the way that things turned out. I guess that some angels wear leather after all.
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