It was Tuesday and I was heading to Cheyenne to get my subwoofers replaced in my pickup. Earlier in the month, I had problems with them shorting out while playing music to one of the gangs I was witnessing to. The shop that does my work happens to be in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I was doing 75 mph on Interstate 25 just as my King would want me to. I signaled left to pass a lady in the right-hand lane. As I went around her and signaled right to go back into the right hand lane, my front driver side tire blew out. I mean this tire did not just leak out slowly. It just literally blew up and my rim was running down the highway. When the tire exploded, it broke my front brake line. As I depressed the brake pedal, nothing happened. I just ended up coasting until my pickup came to a complete stop. This disaster occurred at a good time. The highway was not heavy with traffic and no one else was on the shoulder for me to have to worry about hitting. That was a miracle in itself. I-25 is usually pretty busy with traffic. I did notice pieces flying off my tire on the left hand side of my pickup. Nobody ran into those flying pieces as they shot across the passing lane. Again, I praised the Lord for that miracle.
I turned my hazard lights on and got out of my pickup to inspect the damage. I was going to try to put my spare on to drive to a safer location but I found out when I customized my wheels that I did not do the same thing with my spare tire so it did not fit. All these years I’ve been doing this ministry, I have never had any flats or any roadside breakdowns. I had gotten careless and never checked my spare. And like most of us would, I looked up and asked, “Lord, what’s the reason of giving me a flat today.” He responded, “Sonny, just wait and you will understand.” I began my wait to see what my King was going to show me. I had road hazard warranty on my tires so I call Les Schwab to see what they could do about my tire. It did take them 40 minutes to get here but what was amazing is what happened during that 40 minutes while I was waiting.
A young farmer and his wife pulled up to see if I needed any help. He said, “We saw you with your flashing lights on and we were concerned and wanted to see if you needed any help. God has always told us to help people who are stranded.”
I said, “I have help coming but I have found out that my spare tire will not fit on my pickup. That is my fault. I should have been more responsible at making sure that I had a good spare. My King always protects me.”
The farmer said, “You must be a Christian. Do you think we should wait here for you until someone shows up?”
I said, “You probably don’t have to. But I would like to ask you a question before you leave. Do you have anything I could pray for you about?”
The farmer exclaimed, “You are stranded here and yet it is more important to you to pray for me. That is pretty awesome. You must be a true man of God.” He thought about it for a second then said, “We could use a fresh anointing from God.”
I prayed over them and as I finished I said, “It is okay if you leave. God is faithful and he has help coming.” They then prayed for me before they left. I went back into my pickup to sit down and continue to wait for Les Schwab to show up.
A highway patrolman and his partner pulled up behind me when he saw my flashing lights. The officer asked, “Do you have help coming?”
I said, “Yes, I have a tow truck coming. Les Schwab is coming to see if they could do anything first.” Before they left the scene, I then asked, “Is there is anything I could pray for you about? I continually pray for law enforcement and have Bible studies with them.”
The officer said, “Wow! Yes you can pray for us. You can pray for us to become better fathers and husbands. Even just to be better human beings so that the people around us can see the light of Jesus Christ in us. But we really want to rededicate our lives to Jesus Christ again.” The highway patrolman had a rookie patrolman with him and they both rededicated their hearts to Jesus Christ.
The rookie then spoke up and said, “Actually, this is the first time I have ever given my heart to Jesus Christ. It’s not rededicating but making a full commitment to him. You are pretty bold here. You are broke down and yet you are sharing Jesus Christ with us. I want to know God like you know him.” At this moment the rookie started crying. It was pretty awesome what my King was doing at this moment. I prayed over all of them again. Then the senior highway patrolman prayed over me. After they left, I got back into my pickup.
The man from Les Schwab finally got here and pulled up behind me. He said, “Hey Sonny, how’s it going.” I began to show him what happened. He then said, “Oh my gosh Sonny that looks bad.”
I said, “I don’t even have any brakes either.”
He checked and noticed the smashed brake line and broken shock. He then said, “I came to see if you needed any help. It is hot outside, why don’t you wait in my truck where it’s air-conditioned and we’ll wait for the tow truck together?”
He looked at me and asked, “Is God really a forgiving God like you say he is? I have done a lot of bad things. I don’t know if God can really forgive me.”
I replied, “You have to ask him for forgiveness first before he can forgive you. He will then forgive you and then he will forget it.”
He said, “I am a Christian man but I am starting to roller coaster. I’m always up and down; one foot in the world and one foot in God’s Kingdom. I do not like what I have become.”
I said, “My God is faithful. He has never left you or forsaken you.” So I prayed over him.
He then said, “Sonny, I’ve got to go.”
I replied, “Thank you for waiting with me.”
The tow truck driver showed up as he was beginning to leave. He told the tow truck driver to deliver my pick up to the Les Schwab store. He had made a list of all the things that needed to be done and knew that towing was my only option. The tow truck backed up to my pickup and started loading it on the bed. He said, “Wow man! That tire really blew up. I have never seen one blow up like this tire did. What really is amazing is that the rim rolled on the flat tire. The rim never even had a chance to touch the pavement.”
I said, “That is definitely a miracle. A new rim costs around $300.”
The tow truck driver said, “Someone is looking after you.”
I said, “It is God. God protected me through all this.”
He then asked, “You even thank God even when you get a flat tire?”
I said, “It is for a reason. That is how I see it.”
The tow truck driver said, “That is impressive to be able to think like that.”
I had a chance to ride with him as he delivered my pickup to Les Schwab. He looked over and asked, “So are you a minister? Do you minister to gangs all over the United States?”
I said, “Yes I do.”
The tow truck driver then shared, “I am now divorced. My wife left me and I have no idea where she is at. We had been married forever and for some reason she just quit.”
I said, “Let me pray for you so that God will bring joy back into your heart.”
He then said, “I really miss my children.”
I said, “I know how that goes. It happened to me too. When you are around your kids just love them. That is what I do. I just love them. I don’t get to see them as often as I would like but God has a purpose for everything. You have to keep your faith in God and let him do everything else.”
The tow truck driver said, “I really needed to hear that.”
When we got to Les Schwab he gave his heart to God. He started crying. He said, “I don’t cry ever. Why am I crying?”
I said, “It’s okay. It is the Holy Spirit healing your heart.”
He then said, “I really need this.”
I said, “You are the reason I got this flat.” I shared everything else that happened this day. I told him about how God revealed himself to the highway patrolman and the other young man.
He then asked, “So you are not mad at God for all this?”
I said, “No, He let all this happen so that I could witness to you. And to them.”
The tow truck driver said, “I want to know God like you know him.”
I said, “Open the word of God everyday. God is not a religion but he is a relationship.” As he finished unloading my pickup, he left to do another tow. This definitely goes down as one of the more interesting days doing this ministry. My King gets the Glory and the Victory.
I received a text from the man the next day. He went out and bought a Bible and began reading it. He said that he felt a lot better about himself. The next Saturday he was planning to spend time with his kids at the park.