I first saw Dan about 2 months ago when I started helping James run the scrap metal business. Unlike most of our other customers, Dan had a gentleness about his spirit. He was clearly gripped by the merciless hand of alcoholism, yet he was always polite and offered a sincere conversation most mornings. Dan was overweight and breathed heavily as he made his way from his car to the scales to have his metal weighed in. His hair was often in dissaray and his white t shirt was smudged with dirt and accompanied by a ripped pair of navy blue sweat pants. Dan came almost every day. He brought what ever strips of copper he had left from the trailor he had recently torn down and usually brought just enough cans to receive 2 or 3 dollars. Dan was aware that his situation was apparent to those around him. Dan had confessed to my coworker, Chris, that he needed a beer and that he couldnt make it through the day without a drink; he offered Chris a broken watch hoping he could receive some extra change for it. His forehead was damp with perspiration, his complexion flushed, and his hands trembling. Withdrawals were relentless… surviving the day meant just enough alcohol to maintain. The open brutality of the effects of years drowning in alcohol consumed Dan. My heart would clench as he approached my desk with his head down; He would say “Good Morning, Miss Lindsay, I brought a few cans for you again today.” Oh, Lord! I would cry inside, draw this trapped soul into Your Arms and heal him from this disease. Though his torment was masked by a fondness in his smile and his kind demeanor, I knew when he drove away from the scrap yard, he was battling a dark giant… day after day… minute after minute… I pleaded with the Lord to rescue him and I longed for opportunities to be a vessel for Jesus to love on Dan.
One morning, things were different. It was a humid morning with a sheet of mist hovering in the air. The weather was typical for a winter day in southeast Georgia- warm and muggy. Driving my 30 minute commute to work, I wrestled with the Lord as an image of Dan stepped into my thoughts. I felt a twinge of aggravation in my heart because I was tired and content in simply making it through the day by following my mundane routine; I shamefully acknowledged my lack of desire to dig into God’s will that morning… but the Lord, as always, had something different in mind…. (to be continued)
