Pastor, Come Quickly, The Truck Is Coming!

Bob Sharpe

Joanne (not her real name) had a hunger for God. She joined our church because she wanted to be in a church where a lot of people were being saved. She wanted to be part of the action -- God's action.

I went to visit her and Joe, her husband. He was polite, but he was definitely not interested in getting saved. They were having problems in their marriage. I tried to develop a friendship for him so that I would eventually be able to introduce him to the Friend of sinners. In the meantime I talked with Joanne at the church and showed her how she could cooperate with God in the salvation of her husband. 

One Saturday afternoon I stopped in to the church office and checked the answering machine. Joanne had called and left a message just minutes earlier. She was obviously very distraught. "Pastor, please call quickly. I need to talk to you."

When I called her, she told me that their marital problems had come to a head, and that she was leaving. Her brother-in-law would be at her house at 5 o'clock with his truck to help her move out. She said that her husband was in the basement, very depressed, and that he said he would be willing to talk to me if I would come.

I immediately cancelled all plans for the day and went straight to their home. I got there about 4:00 - just one hour before the truck was to arrive.

When I went to the basement, Joe was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. He was crying. I told him how Jesus specializes in fixing broken things - broken hearts, broken lives and broken homes. "Would you be interested in hearing about it?" I asked.

"Yes, I would," he answered.

I shared the plan of salvation with him. He was eager to get saved, and he received Christ as his Savior. Then I called upstairs to Joanne. "Joanne, please come downstairs. Joe has something important to tell you."

When she came down, I said, "Joe, tell your wife what just happened to you."

"I got saved," he replied.

Big tears of joy welled up in Joanne's eyes. They embraced for several minutes. Then, suddenly, she jumped back with a puzzled look on her face and said, "Wait! Now what am I going to do? The truck will be here in a few minutes."

"Joanne," I answered, "I'm not going to tell you what to do. I think you already know." 

It seemed like an eternity before she said anything. Then she bowed her head in silent prayer. We waited for her. After a few minutes she looked up and spoke very softly, "I'm staying."

Within minutes there was a knock at the door. It was her sister and brother-in-law. They had come with the truck to move her out. "I'm staying," she told them. "Joe just got saved!"

We all rejoiced together. I baptized him the next day in our morning service.

Right from the start, Joe became one of the best soul winners I have ever known. Almost immediately he started winning people to Christ. On many occasions, during the invitation, he would bring someone down the aisle to make a public profession of faith and be baptized. Their backslidden daughter came back to the Lord as a result of the change in in Joe's life.