Big Bob and the Bedroom Floor
By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.
July 31, 2008
Big Bob entered the truck stop diner, sat at the counter and ordered the blue plate special. Down at the other end of the counter another trucker noticed this big hulk of a man who had sat down. He asked the waitress who he was.
“Oh that’s Big Bob.” Replied the waitress.
“I sure wouldn’t want to mess with him. Looks like he’s over 6 feet tall and something like 290 pounds.”
“6 foot 6 inches to be exact and I’d say you’re about right on the weight. But Big Bob’s a real nice guy. He’s a Christian.”
“He’s got religion?”
“Well I don’t think Big Bob would put it that way. I’ve talked with him some and he says…how does he put that? Oh yeah, he says he has a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
“Really.”
“Yeah. He lives it too. Once there was this lady who had been beaten up by her husband. She was sitting out there on the curb. Big Bob saw her first and went right over and helped her up. Bought her a meal and gave her money to get a motel room so she’d be safe for the night. He called the police but I saw him pray with her too.”
“Don’t say. So he’s kinda a softy?”
“Well I wouldn’t say that. Another time there were these two truckers going at it in the parking lot. I was sure they were going to kill one another. Big Bob went out there and grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and broke it up. They hit him a couple of times but he didn’t bat an eye. Just took it like a man and got each of them in a headlock until they surrendered. He talked with them for over an hour and low and behold he had them bowing their heads while he prayed for them.”
“Unbelievable!”
“Yeah he’s a real man and dedicated to God as well.”
“I wonder how he does it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well how can he be so dedicated to God and all that and take risks to help people like he does. I mean, I’d like to do stuff like he does, helping people but I can’t bring myself to do it.”
“Prayer.”
“What?”
“Prayer. I asked him once what keeps him going in his relationship with God and he simply said prayer.”
“Fancy that. A praying bruiser of a man.”
“Yeah, wish we had more of them around.”
Big Bob finished his meal and left the diner. He returned to his small house on the other side of town, parked his rig and got ready for some restful sleep.
He went into his bedroom, closed the door and kneeled down. He lowered his head until his forehead touched the bedroom floor. He began to pray to God.
Matthew 6:6
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
1 Peter 3:12
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.”
Colossians 4:2
“Devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful and thankful.”
Philippians 4:6
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”