Meeting Len

By Maria Fontaine

August 17, 2012

While taking a much-needed break, Peter and I drove to another city where we planned to spend a few days to rest and enjoy the local sights. Arriving later than planned and finding that navigating the complicated streets of the town center was more daunting than we had anticipated, we decided to leave the car in a parking garage and take a taxi for the ten-minute ride to our hotel. We were feeling tired and a little worn as we dragged our luggage to the nearby taxi stand.

Smiling, handsome, and debonair, Len pulled up to the curb. We took an instant liking to this young man. His fluent English in a country where people don’t speak it that much was a welcome relief. We engaged in an interesting conversation about the city, but most of all about his life. He had lived in the U.S. for a while and had visited England multiple times. He seemed to be enjoying life and was confident in his abilities. He was the kind of man that we wished we could have gotten to know better.

The congested and busy street where the hotel was located afforded us only a few moments to unload our luggage at the curb. After Peter paid Len, I handed him a tract, “To You With Love,” saying, “Len, you seem to have it really together and you’re confident about your life, but perhaps someday you will need this. So, you might want to hang on to it.” Glancing at the tract, he instantly discerned that it was about God, and without hesitation he eagerly said, “Actually, I’m searching to know more about Jesus Christ. Maybe this will help me.”

Giving us a warm good-bye, our brief but memorable encounter was over as the honks of the impatient traffic forced him to move on.

We knew then that the delay we’d had that morning, which resulted in us getting to the taxi stop when we did, had been the Lord’s means of getting us there at exactly the time that we needed to be there to meet Len. We also realized anew that we can’t judge by outward appearance or conversation regarding who is searching and who is not. Someone else could have been used to help him take the next step in his process toward finding the truth, but obviously the Lord wanted us to be the ones for some reason. We were there. We were available. We were willing. We were looking to further God’s kingdom. What a privilege to know that we can do the most important thing in the world—put people in touch with almighty God, to give them an opportunity to know His unconditional love.

I don’t think I’ll ever lose that curiosity to know more about the Lord’s behind-the-scenes purposes in the lives of those who cross our paths. It’s so faith-inspiring to know that God, who knows everything, is willing to give us information about people we are interested in and praying for that we wouldn’t otherwise know.

Here’s what the Lord shared with me in prophecy regarding this encounter with Len:

When one of Mine calls out to Me, I’ll move heaven and earth if necessary. I always answer the heart that is seeking the truth. How can I not? His heart was open to anything I would bring if it would only help him understand Me. You can’t hurry a heart. It came down to that being the exact moment when he was open to finding the answers. He was sick of life as it was. He’d pretty much tried everything that looked as if it might give him something more. He’d felt happy at times, but he craved something more that he couldn’t even describe and he felt driven to find it.

Then he saw you standing by the taxi stand with your suitcases, looking a little tired and worn, but with a certain radiance. When you gave him the tract, he was very up front with you about his quest. He didn’t know why he told you, but it just seemed right.

As a result of your encounter, Len’s life has taken a significant turn in a new direction. You see the setbacks, the delays in getting where you needed to go, but I see the intricate positioning and timing that I deemed important enough to orchestrate for the sake of this soul and the lives of others who will be influenced in the times ahead.

Insignificant as it seems in the physical, this encounter was a key event in your trip. When you have the expectation that I will use you wherever you may be, then your openness to My Spirit guides you to those people and situations that are primed and ready for the next step in their journey closer to Me.