The Midnight Rider

Tales of the White Hat, "The Midnight Rider" - Folks sometimes ask me about the man in the white hat—how he ends up getting the calls others don’t, and why people reach for him when the hour is late and hope is thin.

Lane Street isn’t that man. I’m just the one telling his story.

What follows is a true account—one I’ve heard firsthand—of a servant of God who learned long ago that when the call comes at midnight, obedience matters more than credentials.

There are calls you get in life that don’t ask if you’re ready.
They don’t care if you’re tired, doubting, or wondering whether someone else might be better suited for the job.

They just come.

"One night, years back, the man in the white hat got a call from an ICU. A man wasn’t expected to make it through the night. The family didn’t ask for a specialist or a scholar. They asked the hospital to call the man in the white hat.

So he got up. Pulled on his boots. Made his way to the hospital.
Truth is, on the drive over, the old questions showed up right on time. Isn’t there someone better than me? More educated? More eloquent? Someone who prays prettier prayers?

But the answer came quiet and steady, the way the Holy Spirit usually speaks when He means business: "I call you, because you will go."

He prayed with the family. He said what the Lord gave him to say. Then he left. He didn’t follow up. Didn’t check back. Because it wasn’t his job to make God’s Word work. That belonged to God.

Almost a year later—nearly to the same hour—another call came from that same hospital.

When he stepped into the ICU, a woman came running toward him and grabbed him. At first, he didn’t recognize her. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her. Then a man stepped up beside her.

She said, “This is my husband. He wasn’t supposed to make it through the night… and you prayed for him.”

His heart leapt clean out of his chest. He was overjoyed. Grateful. Awestruck. For a moment, it felt like a celebration handed straight down from heaven.

Then she looked at him again—and her next words shook him to the core.

“Our son is in a coma. We need you to pray for him.”

No one could see it, but inside, his knees were shaking. With every step toward that room, he cried out to God—reminding Him that He prepares the way and does not forsake those He sends.

He wasn’t walking in confidence.

He was walking in obedience.

He stepped into that ICU room and began to pray. After a moment, he reached out and placed his hand on the young man’s knee.

And just like that… the young man came out of the coma.

He reached past his mother, his father, his wife—and grabbed hold of the man in the white hat. And in that moment, the unmistakable power of God flowed through him… to that young man.

Not because of who the man in the white hat was.
Not because of anything he did.
But because God showed up.

And when it was done, the man in the white hat left—quietly, like the Lone Ranger of old. He didn’t check back. Didn’t circle the moment. Because again… it wasn’t his job to make God’s Word work.

When you serve an Almighty God, there are things you witness that don’t fit neatly into words. You just carry them with you—humble, grateful, and a little quieter than before.

And you learn something important along the trail: God doesn’t call at midnight because you’re the best man for the job. He calls because you’ll answer.

That’s the ride of the Midnight Rider.

I didn’t live this story.
I witnessed it.

— Lane Street
Saddle up. I’ll see you on the trail.