Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Taxicab Confessions

As I left the airport in Memphis heading for Chicago, I was given the name of the taxi driver who would be taking me from Chicago's O'Hare Airport to Wheaton, IL for a special evening with ministry friends. My driver's name was Brian. It would be about a 30-minute drive.

Though I prayed that God would use me in some way to impact Brian's life that day, I had no idea that he was hand-picked by God for this moment and was hungry for spiritual truth. As Brian and I began our journey to Wheaton, he shared with me how he was a musician for a number of years while living in California..."until everything fell apart," he said.

Turns out that 16 years ago, his wife passed away on the delivery table while giving birth to their son. Six years later, he remarried. And today, his second marriage is on the rocks and his now-16-year old son is living with the guilt of feeling that he is personally responsible for the death of his mother. Oh, and one more thing...Brian is not a Christian.

So let me stop and ask you to think about this situation. If you were me on that day, sitting in the back of Brian's SUV, knowing you had 20 precious minutes left to share something with him that might impact his life, what would you have said to him? I began to share with Brian that while I had never faced anything like what he had to face, there are definitely some battles I find myself in daily as a husband and father, making it clear that I was not on top of my game.

I also told him that the only real and personal peace I have ever found in my life has come from my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And I told him if I don't start each day in prayer and in the Word, "downloading" God's wisdom and strength into my life, I'm toast and I could never love my wife the way God wants me to and I could never lead my children the way God wants me to.

I have to admit that in most Christian circles, my response to Brian would be considered cliché. But it really hit home with Brian. I went on to tell him that there came a time in my life when I wanted to be closer to God but just didn't know how to get there. And I told him I realized by reading the Bible that God created me so that He could love me and so that I would love Him in return.

But something kept me from being close to God the way I wanted - it was my sin, my determination to live for me and not for God. And I couldn't figure out what to do about it. Then came the discovery of a lifetime - even with all my mistakes, it was still possible for me to have a close relationship with God because of what His Son Jesus Christ did for me on the cross.

Yet knowing this about Jesus wasn't enough and it wouldn't bring life-change. I had to make a big decision. I had to choose who was going to run my life from now on - me or God. Thankfully, I chose to release the steering wheel of my life to Jesus and experience His forgiveness and love He had been waiting to give me.

And now I'll ask you, who is running your life? And if Jesus is, are you ready at a moment's notice to share the hope you received from Jesus with someone God brings into your path?