Always Being Ready… Even in the Bathroom?!

From Kevin

It was a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom shared their vows beside the ocean, just before sunset, in a ceremony so perfect it could have come out of a movie. As the wedding party went off to take some final photos, I, along with the other guests, headed to the reception. It was a real celebration, without a trace of fakery or pretense. Friends and family were overwhelmed with joy for a great couple, and it was a pleasure to be part of it.

Amidst boisterous conversation and laughter which filled the building, I excused myself to the restroom. At this point, you could say that I was not expecting a “divine appointment,” a “teachable moment,” or an opportunity for the gospel. And yet, this is exactly what was waiting for me. The question was, would I comprehend what God was up to and ignore the strangeness of the setting?

When I entered the restroom, a young man that I had seen at the ceremony was relieving himself. As I took the station next to him, he gave me the masculine upward head nod over the partition.

“Beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?” I said, responding to his greeting.

“Man, it was.” He replied.

As he finished up and went to the sink he asked, “So, where are you from?”

For some unknown reason, I dug back into my distant history and said, “East San Diego.” The reason this was strange was that I had not been back to that neighborhood for over forty years. I was from there, but only when I was a kid.

“Then you must know my family’s store on Fairmont Avenue,” he offered, giving me the name of the store.

“Wow, I haven’t been back to my neighborhood in a while, but I know exactly where that store is. How’s business?” I asked, now washing my hands.

“It’s so hard right now, man. Things are pretty bad,” he confessed.

And at that moment, I physically felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in that restroom. I thought, “Wow, God. You are here and you’re up to something. I’m all in.”

“My name’s Kevin. What’s yours?” I asked

“Mario. Nice to meet you.”

“You know, Mario, I’ve had times like that. Only one thing pulled me through: Jesus. It’s hard to do it without Him. Do you know Jesus? Have you asked Him for help?”

“Not really,” he said.

“The Bible says that greater is God who is for you than he who is in the world. Everything is harder without Jesus on your side. Have you ever just given your life to Him?”

“No. I never have.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes. Yes I do.”

Mario prayed with me, in that bathroom, and gave his life to Jesus. Suddenly, he was forever changed.

This exchanged only took a few minutes, and the next thing I heard from the door as it opened a crack was a girl’s voice, who yelled, “Hey, Mario, are you still in here? What are you doing?!”

“Well, I just met this guy, and I gave my life to God!” he called back.

There was silence.

Mario and I exchanged phone numbers, then headed off to our separate tables.

“You’ll never believe what just happened in the restroom,” I told my friends as I sat down, still a little bewildered.

After I recounted the story, my friends were shocked – and in a more than just a “Why is Kevin evangelizing in the restroom?” kind of way. After a few moments, one of them spoke up.

“Several of us have been praying for Mario… He’s been to our church.”

To combine a few portions of Scripture, here is what I took away from this adventure:

• Always be prepared to speak what is helpful to build others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen, even when it is not convenient.

• At the wedding in Cana, the headwaiter did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Servants get in on all the action.

2 Timothy 4:2; Ephesians 4:29; John 2:9