A Blessing in Disguise

A few phone calls later, and we found out that the tenant (also the brother of the former property owner) was indeed still living there. After talking with him, he said that he had a 1 year lease agreement and had no intentions of moving until he had another place to go. Worried that more problems would occur if he stayed, we told him that we needed to secure the property as soon as possible and that he should plan to move.

I checked with Tanisha, the former owner and his sister, and she indicated that she did indeed sign a 1 year lease with him; however, he had never followed through and paid any rent. I asked if she had filed for a formal eviction, and she said she had not. The reality was that we were faced with the possibility of going to court to evict him if he would not leave peacefully. Tanisha had not delivered the property to us on the date she had committed to do so, she was also potentially liable for a breach of the purchase agreement. It was all shaping up to be a fine mess.

In communicating with him later, he said that he was looking for a place and would be out by Saturday. Saturday came, and he said it would be Monday. Monday led to promises of Tuesday. Meanwhile, we weren’t sure what was going to happen. Was he just dragging things on, or could we really trust what he was telling us? What was he going to do to the house on the way out?

Last night in praying about it, I began to ask, “What would Jesus do?”  Legally, we could take possession, call the police or lock the doors, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what Jesus would do. The only thing that I could come up with is that Jesus would probably just offer to help him move. So I called him to offer our help.

His story was a sad one. He couldn’t get a truck without a credit card, and while trying to get someone that could help him (like his sister), he lost the only help he had lined up. He was in a spot, and meanwhile, he had to go to the probation office for his monthly reporting visit.

This afternoon (Tuesday) we showed up with three guys and a truck that we had paid for, helped him load everything and unload everything at his new place. He was even able to take the refrigerator and stove that he would have otherwise had to leave behind. It didn’t take long, and the situation was solved.

He called me as our guys were finishing. “Thank you SO much. You guys have no idea how much this means. I want you to know that this is way beyond anything I ever expected or hoped for. I know that God is going to bless you all majorly for this. Thank you, thank you.”

The result is that we made a friend and probably just met one of the first people who will be a part of our future congregation. Far from being a bad thing, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

God’s ways are so much better than ours. When we think that it’s time to lawyer up and go at it, God has another way. He calls us to peace and to seek the peace. Seeing the reconciliation of God brought to the situations of the inner city starts by asking, “What would Jesus do?” and then doing it.

Thanks for your continued prayers for our Detroit team as we move into this needy neighborhood for the sake of the Kingdom.

Your brother,