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Advent HOPE Kettering

Michael Smith

All Things Work Together

If you have a Bible, can you turn to Romans chapter 8 verse 28?

It's in God's Word Romans chapter 8 verse 28 simply states, for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them who are called according to His purpose.

So does All things, does that consist of good things and seemingly bad things?

Well, I'm going to share a story with you of how all things work together for good for me, and for the Lord's work.

As you know, if you listened to my testimony last night, I was a drug addict, I was into partying and lying and stealing from people, and 2 years after, I sobered up and became a Christian, I was a manager at this vegetarian restaurant.

It was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and there was this guy who came along and he said, you know, Mike, let me wash your windows.

I could tell he was a crack cocaine addict.

I talked to those people on a regular basis and I kind of had my suspicions of whether he could do a professional job or not or if he was even going to wash my windows.

He got to washing my windows and he did pretty good.

And he said, Mike, I'm going to come by every 2 weeks on Monday.

I figured I'd see him tomorrow wanting to shine my shoes or something, you know.

1 day he came into the restaurant and he looked very down.

And he said, he said, Mike, man, I'm going to need $50.

He said, what, man, I got kids to feed, I got the kids, I got, I said, don't, don't, don't talk to me about that.

And that might seem kind of harsh, but I've been on that scene and I know that line of reasoning.

I said, you're wanting some money for drugs.

He said, you look, you're a clean-cut guy.

He said, well how do you know I do drugs?

I said, you've got burn marks all over your fingers.

You're showing the signs, the line of your reasoning, I've heard that, I've said the same thing myself.

So you don't have to be fake with me, you can just say, Michael, I need money for dope.

And he said, man, well how did you get off drugs?

God is the 1 that changed my mind, rebuilt my mind and delivered me away from that.

And I'll tell you, I'm tempted sometimes then, I'm not really tempted by drugs now, it's been 8 years now, praise the Lord, but at the time I still was tempted from time to time.

I said, but you know what, I have no desire to go back to that.

I said, well it was this place up in Tennessee and they talked to me about the Lord and everything, and I can't explain it.

He said, I want a miraculous process, but I don't believe in the Lord.

I said, well, He said, how can I go to that rehab?

He said, I'm not saying I'll believe in your God, but he said, but I need some help.

So we prayed together and I called up that rehab and I said, you know, we've got this guy.

And they worked it out to where they were gonna take him as a charity patient.

I mean, when they said that, okay, Michael, it looks like we can fit it into the budget.

I was excited because I kind of liked the guy.

And can you all hear me without this microphone or is it absolutely essential that I hold it?

All right, so the day came when I was going to pick him up.

Now that was going on with me and the guy at the restaurant, Aaron, going to rehab.

Also at the same time I was engaged to my wife and she was in the country of Hungary at the time.

Also at the same time, I had been raising money to go to Thailand for a mission trip.

I had been working with a tribal group known as the Karen.

They are a tribe that was originally from Burma.

They're in the midst of a long civil war.

I had been going there about once or twice a year, raising money to help support their orphanages and their evangelism And their little elementary school that they had I was excited about going back to Thailand But this was an especially exciting trip because on the way back I was gonna swoop through hungry and pick up my wife.

And the Friday that I was going to take this guy up to rehab to get off a crack happened to be the Friday before I would be leaving out on that next Monday.

So this is going through my mind I mean, I'm on cloud 9.

This is like probably 1 of the happiest Fridays of my life I'm taking this this guy that I've come to like to rehab to find the Lord and get off drugs I've got money in my pocket I just cashed my check of all the money that I'd raised, about $5, 000 in my pocket, ready to give to those people in Thailand.

And most of all, I'm thinking about my darling.

I'm about to go pick her up in Hungary, never been to Europe before, so I'm, you know, nothing could have made me sad.

It was a Friday, and he told me, he says, you meet me down at Bueller's Market, Chattanooga, be there right at such and such a time, let's say 4 o'clock.

Everybody knows Aaron because he washes everybody's windows in downtown Chattanooga.

The guy with the gold tooth, everybody knows him.

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All Things Work Together

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