Getting Fed at Chic-fil-A
I bet I know what you’re thinking…either, “Duh, what else would you do there?” or “What a weird title for a faith article.” I get it, but it’s true. The other night God sent me to Chic-fil-A to get fed. The crazy thing is, I wasn’t even all that hungry. Let me explain.
It was Tuesday afternoon and I had a very long day at work, one of those days that made you question whether you had made good choices in your life. I overslept that morning and missed the bus I take into Cleveland each day, so I had to drive. I rushed around to get out of the house and backed into the trash can on the way out of the driveway. That’s the kind of day it was from the very beginning. I was tired, mentally, physically and spiritually. I had been on the road the previous weekend working with our charter in Detroit and was prepping to go work our booth at the Cincinnati Easyriders show. Worse off, I was fighting off the flu.
My wife called on the way home and told me that my stepson had a really rough day. She wanted to know what our dinner plans were. I had no idea, like I said…I’d been on the road all weekend and we hadn’t been to the grocery store for the week yet. For all I cared, it could have been left over chips & wings from the Superbowl or whatever else we had lying about. Instead, I felt like I needed to put things aside and spend the evening with the family. For ease, I suggested we just go out. My only request was that everyone be ready to go when I got home.
When I arrived I quickly salted our driveway while everyone piled in my Jeep. My stepson had requested Chic-fil-A so we headed out towards Akron. My wife asked why we didn’t go to the one closer to us in Strongsville? I replied simply– traffic. We arrived, ordered and sat down, prayed and began to eat our meal. I was in deep conversation with the kids about last night’s Monday Night Raw when I spotted this man in a wheel chair rolling by our table with his kids. He was missing his right arm and right leg, but other than that, appeared quite healthy. I don’t remember how it happened, but in an instant, Charlie had introduced himself and our conversation shifted from to busted wrenches, to corn fields, then finally to the Gospel.
It was amazing. Charlie had this grin on his face I couldn’t explain. His body, so fully animated as he shared the story about the motorcycle accident 14 years ago where he lost both limbs and 80% of his blood…nearly dying…and praising God for it! “Had that not happened, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Charlie. My stepson was mesmerized, hanging on to every word. My wife and daughter listened attentively. Internally I was reassessing a few of my own situations. As we parted ways I thanked Charlie for the talk. I chuckled to myself as we got back in the Jeep. My wife asked what I was laughing about? All I could say was, “God just sent a one armed, one legged man in a wheel chair to teach me a lesson about perspective.” Seriously though, how awesome is that?
The whole
situation reminded me of a passage of scripture; Man
must not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God. (Matthew 4:4) Jesus spoke these words to remind us that it is
God who sustains us, not ourselves. None of us are without spot or blemish and
believe it or not, even those of us in ministry struggle. God sent me to
Chic-fil-A that night, not to eat because I was hungry, but because I needed to
be spiritually fed. Scripture tells us that if we hunger and thirst after righteousness,
we shall be filled. That is to say that if we study the Word of God we will be spiritually
fed. If you don’t know where to start, whether it’s because you’re not yet a
Christian, you’re exploring your faith, or just because you simply don’t know…there
are great Christian motorcycle ministries, clubs and churches all over the
state who are holding Bible study groups and services throughout the week. Seek
one out, and I promise you will find what you’re looking for. C.W. “SKREEECH” Streeper
Soldiers for Jesus MC:
Buckeye
