By Brother Brian Shimer

When I walked into the sauna, everyone was laughing and talking. I had heard their laughter even from the pool while doing laps. Unusual for a sauna on a Monday morning. Apparently, I had missed a great story. As soon as I arrived, the two left, who had been sharing the story.

Kim welcomed me and said, “You missed such a great story!”

“I could tell,” I responded, sharing how I heard their laughter from the pool! 

Kim then left, leaving me with this young man I had not met before.

I began to ask him simple questions about life. I discovered he had a daughter, age 5, of whom he said, “She saved my life.”

So, I said, “Could you tell me more about that remarkable statement?”

And this 30-year-old man told me his story of gangs, and deliverance, and hope found in Jesus and his daughter and wife. It was one of those moments, when I knew Jesus clearly had also walked into the sauna. The young man had shared much and said, “Wow, it feels so good to tell someone that story.”

I smiled. It does feel good to have someone listen and to be unburdened of something.

I said, “I’ve been meditating from Psalm 103, this is how it starts.”

I shared these verses:

Bless the Lord, oh my soul. All my inmost being, bless His Holy Name.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

 I said, “Now listen to this list of benefits.” He closed his eyes as he listened:

Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with compassion and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

He looked up, tears in his eyes as I finished, and said, “I always shake when I think on good things or hear good things. I was shaking as you shared those verses with me. Thank you so much.”

My heart overflows with the power of God’s word; with chance encounters where Jesus walks into a relationship and people experience Him. Praise the Lord.