Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything to hard for me? (32:26)
Hey, maybe someday I'll visit TJ or Antoine.
Nathan had said that when he was waiting with Adam for their passes into the jail to see Mike Hollis and Derrick Freeman respectively. He had said it when he was with his friend, "under the influence," so to speak, of another Christian man. But the thing was, now that he was alone, now that he had actually said it, and even though it was still on his mind, he really didn't want to do it. Unfortunately, God had left the matter on his heart, and, a week later, he still couldn't get away from it.
So, after a week of struggling with it, he had given up, and was now walking through the jail on his way to visit TJ. It went without saying that he was nervous.
"Why am I even doing this, God?" he prayed to himself as he sat down on his side of the glass partition in the visitor's room. He set his Bible down on the counter in front of him. He really didn't know why he had brought the Book: TJ would probably tell him to get lost as soon as he saw it. But maybe, on some off chance that the had-been gang member wouldn't… well, that would be a good thing.
Nathan had no further time to dwell on the variables because a guard was currently bringing TJ in. The intimidating man sat down on the opposite side of the pane of shatterproof glass, his suspicion-filled black orbs boring into Nathan's own eyes.
"Watchya doin' here?" TJ asked, his voice as hard as his eyes.
Nathan decided to be honest with the other man. "I told a friend that I would come see you."
TJ smirked, asking, "You Jesus freaks put each other up to junk like this?"
Nathan allowed a tight smile to come onto his face as he quoted, "'Provoke unto love and to good works.'"
"What?"
"That's Hebrews 10:24." Nathan informed him.
"That's in that Book of yours, huh?" TJ asked. Though the gangster tried to keep his expression hard, or at least neutral, Nathan thought that he might have seen a spark of real curiosity in TJ's eyes as he asked, "So, what else is in there?"
Nathan listed off a few Bible stories and miracles before he got to the one that he knew that TJ needed to hear about the most – the story of the Crucifixion. He opened his Bible and began to read the story directly from the Gospels, choosing to look at the Word instead of the eyes of the man in front of him. During the whole time that he was reading, TJ never said a word, appearing to actually listen instead.
When Nathan stood to go though, TJ asked, "You gonna come back and see me again, or have you done enough t' make yer buddy happy?"
Nathan found himself nodding. "Yeah, I'll come back next week, okay?"
TJ nodded tersely and watched as Nathan left the visitor's area. As Nathan stepped out of the jailhouse into the outdoors where he was once more breathing the air of free men, he was deep in thought again. He didn't know what to think about the fact that TJ wanted him to come back and visit with him again. Maybe it was a Jonah-like attitude to have, but Nathan didn't know if he actually wanted to come back. He would, because he had told TJ that he would, but did he really want to? After all, it was TJ. Would it really be worth it to take the time to extend his friendship to him, or even just to share the Gospel with a man like TJ? He knew that he wasn't the one who got to make that judgment call, so why not? Why not come back next week and spend an hour with him, just to see what happened?
So, exactly one week later, Nathan was to be found walking into the same room in the same building and sitting in the same spot. But by the look on the face of the man who sat down across from him, Nathan just might not be talking to the same TJ. It couldn't be the same guy. The man that he was looking at looked like he was happy. He was even smiling. This man shared TJ's features, his voice sounded like TJ's, but surely this wasn't TJ.
"Hey, man," TJ offered as Nathan sat down.
"Hi," Nathan returned, hoping that he didn't sound as confused as he felt.
And then he saw it. There, in TJ's huge hands, was a new, black Bible.
Seeing what Nathan's gaze had fallen to, TJ looked down at the Bible as well. Starting to trace the glittering, gold lettering on the cover, TJ began to talk.
"You wanna know what the worst thing about bein' in this place is?"
Nathan raised his eyebrows in an inquiry of sorts.
"I got nothin' t' do… nothin' t' do but sit in my cell and think. So, when ya' left last week, that's what I did. I got back to m' cell, an' when the guard left me there by myself, I sat down on m' bunk an' I thought about what ya' had said and read t' me. For three days it wouldn't leave me alone. Then I got up the nerve up t' talk t' that preacher guy that shows up here every coupla weeks; William somebody."
"Barrett." Nathan supplied, smiling to himself.
TJ nodded, too lost in his own thoughts to Nathan's changed expression.
"An' the two of us got t' talkin' 'bout what ya' said." Here TJ met Nathan's eyes again. "An' it turns out that ya' were right. Jesus did die for me on that cross, an' that day when the preacher came, He saved me, too."
Again, TJ actually smiled.
"Ya' don't mind that I asked the preacher not t' tell ya', do ya'? I wanted t' tell ya' myself."
Nathan shook his head. "I don't mind at all; in fact, I think that it did me better to hear it from you."
The two men talked for a little while longer before Nathan left the jail feeling full of praise and more than a little humbled. He leaned back against the bumper of his truck and looked up at the blue sky that was hovering above the parking lot.
"God," he prayed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was so doubtful of Your abilities, that I have been so prejudiced against TJ, and so unwilling to be a witness to him. Thank you for sending William to him, for saving him, and for reminding me that there isn't anyone or 'any thing too hard for' You to do a work in. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen."
As Nathan slid behind the wheel of his truck, he pulled out his phone and called up his friend.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked.
"Hey, it's Nathan. Man, Adam, you're never going to believe what's happened."
Another piece for my "Highlights" series. This one-shot has been a surprisingly long work in progress, but it's here now, and I hope that you can get something from it, or at least enjoy it. Reviews make my day, as always; thanks!:)