At the gas station, I pulled off to the right, stopped the car, and prepared to give away my raincoat after taking it off. After all, the goal of the outing included searching for a weary person caught in the rain since I also had ponchos in the back of my SUV.
Shortly after, a young woman with long hair blowing in her face casually walked by my car, catching my attention as she crossed the parking lot.
She moved in front of my headlights, wearing a blanket around her head, which looked like a wet sock. She circled beyond my vehicle and headed the other way.
I rolled my window down, calling to her. She ignored me. So, I backed up, nearing the gas pumps, inching closer, and shouted, “Hello, I have a raincoat for you. It will keep you dry.”
She looked at me, her dark stare telling me she wasn’t sure I spoke or if she was hearing things. I drove beside her, inching along in the parking lot, and her hands clutched the blanket beneath her chin. She asked, “What? What do you want?”
“I wanted to give you this raincoat. Please take it.” The woman in her twenties wiped the water from her face. “I’m good. No, thanks.”
She moved on, cutting between some parked cars, not taking the coat, not getting dry. And I rolled up my window as she disappeared into the shadows.
I pulled to an empty spot, touching the raincoat in my seat, and knew we sometimes go down dark roads. We can get stuck in making wrong choices, finding ourselves wrapped inside the blanket of our despair or heaviness.
So I sat in my SUV, watching her until I lost her in the darkness. The car lights illuminated my desperate plea for a Savior, leading me to ponder how a young woman finds herself on the rain-soaked highway of life, alone, with a damp blanket covering her head.
Then I think of my life, the dark places, the lonely walks, and the broken places where I’ve stomped along on chilly nights. And my heart ached with regret.
I held the steering wheel, and the tears fell, and I prayed for the woman, knowing Christ calls to lost hearts on the side of the road. He can redeem that woman’s life and cover her with hope.
I’ve tried to give my raincoat away numerous times over the last few years, the same black one I have in my possession today, but so far—whenever I try, the recipient doesn’t take my coat. (Although I have given away many other coats with great success.)
I reached over to the crumpled raincoat in the passenger seat, thanking the Lord for giving it to me and getting me out of the rain.
The coat is not meant to be given away. At least not yet. God wants me to wear it as a reminder of how He covers me with His amazing grace on rainy days and on dry. And that I should keep searching for the person who needs His kindness and love.
Who knows, you might give your coat away to someone. Being kind on a rainy day when life feels like a wet sock, heavy, damp, and filled with endless worry can lift the soaked burdens from someone. You never know how much of a difference a small act can make. After all, the Lord slipped His kindness into my life in so many ways, forever holding me within the raincoat of His love.
