Hitchhiking in the Heat

The rear side panel in my jeep popped loose inexplicably.  Maybe there was a sudden great wind. Traffic was light and I was about to pull off onto the shoulder of the interstate to make a quick repair.
“Don’t pull off here, there’s an exit just ahead,” I was told by the inner Voice.
A minute later a sign said, “Exit - One Mile.”
As I exited and decelerated, I saw a hitch hiker in the distance ahead near the on-ramp, sitting in the 100 degree heat, head down.
“He will be riding with you this afternoon,” I was told.
If a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.… You shall love him as yourself.
As I neared the man, another voice interrupted -
“Didn’t your mother teach you anything? Don’t pick him up. He’s just a bum – he doesn’t deserve a ride; he doesn’t deserve any favor. He might make you late for your important business meeting. The chill from your AC might make him sick after sitting out in the heat. He might stink. He might want to smoke. He might be drunk…look – he’s holding a bottle. He might be dangerous. He might not like listening to your music or want to listen to you singing hymns. Just go over there to the convenience store and delay – someone else will probably pick him up.”
I opted for plan B. I used the restroom. I washed my hands. I purchased a drink. I perused the newspaper headlines.  I flipped through the magazines.  I greeted the other patrons in the store. I was cheerful with the cashier. Like a good church-going Christian.
I don’t remember the name of the place. It should have been called the “Tarshish convenience store.” 
Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.…
I eventually wandered back to my vehicle, quickly repaired the loose panel, and got in. As I put the key into the ignition switch to resume my journey, I was told firmly:
“Move your briefcase and cooler into the back seat. You will have a rider, remember?”
Darryl was shocked as I pulled over to the side of the road next to him. In fact he didn’t see me until after I stopped, when he must have sensed a new presence. He lifted his head. 
I had only 45 minutes or so left to reach my destination. Darryl was traveling only one exit farther than my meeting.
All in all, he was an attractive man, but his resume wasn’t too good. Thirty seven; an alcoholic; drug user; time in jail for trespassing; time in prison for burglary; he liked his women; plural; smoked—heavily.
As we chatted, Darryl told me he prayed and lately had been asking for direction, realizing he couldn’t handle his vices and addictions anymore – they were possessing him. He told me, in fact, he had been talking to God that hot afternoon as he waited and waited and waited in hope of a ride. 
 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find…..
He had been ignored by all other drivers for over two hours as he stood, and then gave way to sitting, in the sweltering heat. I suggested maybe I was sent, maybe to give him direction.
Darryl told me his mother is a Christian. I told him, “I bet she prays for you every day.”  He agreed.
The Voice then spoke to my heart a fourth time –
“Her prayers will be answered this afternoon.”
Quickly, gently, reassuringly, I told Darryl, “Your mom’s prayers are going to be answered THIS afternoon.”
The enemy tried to hold him back, telling him:
“You have a long track record, you could never be good enough. You are a loser. You’ve made one bad decision after another, you’re not strong enough to beat your vices and addictions, your friends will laugh at you, no church would want you. And even that preacher you talked to at length a while ago - he gave up on you;  besides, you won’t have any more fun.”
Your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.…
But, as promised, his mom’s prayers were answered.
We held hands and prayed. Darryl walked up the hill, with all his stuff, to the cross and talked to God about handling his life—his addictions, his passions, his poor choices, his future—and about salvation by grace through faith.
He got more of a ride than he hoped for, farther than crossing from Virginia to North Carolina.  Much farther.
Crossing from law to grace.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.