The people God puts in our life's path

I'm not much of a party-goer or par tier per say, but this evening I was quickly invited to attend a party held by one of my friends from school. I weighed my options mentally, the pros and cons, and after some thought I called him up for directions and I went to his house. The party was like one's I attended off campus at JudCo. social gathering with some alcohol involved, but more social than anything else. At the party I met an individual by the name of Howard, soon into meeting him I found out that he is a follower of Christ as well, so we get talking about life and God's hands in our lives...

After talking to him for a while I get a gist of who he is and where he is coming from, and we share some commonalities besides being brothers in Christ. It turns out that a lot of the hardships that Howard has faced, in various shapes and forms, I too have gone through what he has gone through. Talking longer, I learn how his heart has been broken and he has started to go into a downward spiral that is destructive and complex, he shared with me things that he regrets doing, but he is trying...praying...working to get on with life, but for now he's trusting in God to see him through. Howard is a bright guy, but he is making a lot of poor choices, but as I listen reflectively to him, I start to love him as Christ loves me, I see him as an imago dei (image of God), I start to share with him personal insights and also what the Bible has to say, he in turn shares with me his favorite passages in the Bible.
At the end of our conversation, he lauds me for my influential and helpful encouragement from one brother in Christ to another (and I only met him tonight!), he thanks me for the words and encouragement, but I offer up praise to God, for it His doing that made this random meeting successful.
I'm praying for Howard, I'm praying that (as I shared with him) the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son does not sit on his butt when he sees his son in the distance, but the father gets up and heads to the son. Howard knows this parable, but I reminded him that God is making his way to him even if it seems like God is distant (he knows he's not). Thankfully I have his number, I will definitely keep in touch with him, because our meeting might seem coincidental to the outsider, but it was God's perfecting planning and timing. (The picture is an interpretation of Philip meeting with the Ethiopian -- another case of God's perfect planning and timing.)

[nv]