Most people use the phrase “the walls came crashing down” figuratively.
But during recent flooding in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the walls of Zach’s* house literally fell down—in a moment, everything changed. The natural disaster made death a reality and showed Zach his need for a Saviour.
When Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) chaplain Robert Roulds approached his house, Zach was already deep in the mud, mucking out his basement. He told Robert that the floodwaters rose around his bed as he slept. After waking, he tried to save a few things, but eventually he left most of his treasured possessions behind.
A little while into the conversation, Robert asked, “How is your faith holding up?”
Zach explained that he grew up in a religious home but didn’t attend church. As the two stood in Zach’s devastated home and talked, Robert could sense a restlessness in his heart.
Zach, in his mid-20s, hadn’t thought much about death before. But the aftermath of the flood made him pause.
“In all of this destruction and what you’ve gone through, how do you find comfort?” Robert continued.
“I find comfort through my friends,” Zach replied.
Robert looked around at the walls stripped down to studs, the smell of mildew in the air, and pointed Zach to his true need.
“That’s all good and everything, but look around you,” Robert said gently, adding that even friends can’t give us the deep peace our hearts desire. “What I want to share with you is how you can have comfort in the midst of all this.”
Zach and Robert started to read through “Steps to Peace With God,” a booklet that shows our need for salvation through Jesus Christ. He asked Zach an important question: “Would you like this gift that Christ has to offer you?”
There was no question in Zach’s mind. The floods exposed life’s uncertainty and the comforts that would never satisfy. He needed Jesus, the only One who could bring peace and security to his life.
After Zach prayed—declaring his faith in Jesus and asking for forgiveness of his sins—his whole demeanour was different.
“He just changed right in front of us,” Robert said with joy.
Robert doesn’t know the seeds that had already been planted or what might have been going on in his heart before the disaster. But God used the flood to grab his attention, and now Zach has certainty about where he will spend eternity.
Ask God to draw more hearts to the Gospel in Milwaukee. And keep chaplains in prayer as they minister to people in this area.
*Name changed for privacy