Today is just another day. God has given me breath to breathe, legs to walk, an appetite to eat, and a brain to work. As I eat my Lean Cuisine and snag a piece of cold pizza leftover from the lunch provided for people in training at my work, I think about the witnessing that Ben (now going to use first names in my blogs--but no last names) and I did on Sunday.
Our youth group wanted to go witnessing on Sunday, so as leaders he and I felt we should go along. I was more than a little afraid, and Ben was feeling the same anxiety, because we've felt the judgement from people who have witnessed to us, and we tell them that we are a Christian. They seem excited and ask what church I go to...after I've told them, their expression falls and I can see in their eyes that they don't believe I am "truly" saved (just b/c our churches aren't the same...I'm a Lutheran and they are Baptist, or whatever the case may be).
I don't think anything hinders a witness for Christ like the feeling of rejection and judgement. If I hadn't been a Christian, I think I would never want to hear the name of Christ again just because of those people that came to my door.
So, as we decided to witness to those around us at a Moorhead Park, I asked God to bring the people to us that needed to hear. We decided to just ask people if they had anything in their life that needed prayer. I was amazed at the reaction. At first, wariness would fill their eyes as Ben and I approached a few people but once we asked if they needed prayer, we were never turned down! Ben proceeded to pray for those requests and we'd move away until we felt God calling us to talk to someone else.
Finally we sat down on a bench by a walking path and just sat for a while. That was when God answered my request for Him to bring people to us...because a man came walking down the path by himself. He looked lonely and a little disheveled. His name is Dale. We asked him if there was anything we could pray for him about today. His words were: Are you serious? We nodded and he sat down right next to Ben and said: Do I have a story for you. He proceeded to tell us this heartrenching story about his wife leaving him in August and taking his three sons. His dad died of a heart attack at 65 years old less than a week later. Then allogations of an assult from his wife came and now he hasn't seen his boys in two weeks. Now, I'm not sure the other side of this story, but all I know is that he needed hope and he needed someone to listen and care and pray for him. So, we did and gave him a tract and invited him to our church and gave him Ben's cell phone if he needed someone to talk to...Wow. God answers our prayers.
Then came a woman on her bike. I asked her if she needed prayer. She stopped her bike and looked at me, as if to make sure I wasn't joking with her. When she saw that I wasn't, she nodded and I walked to her. She told me that she'd gotten fired for not doing improper things at her last job and now she was living in a shelter. She asked for prayer for a job and a stable home. Ben said she was on the brink of tears as she was telling us these things.
Today in my devotions, I was convicted with the fact that God pours (lavishes!) blessings upon me, but I just hold onto them with a greedy fist. I need to start serving Him more deliberately and get out of my own little comfortable bubble. Does Jesus really want me warming a pew or does He want me to get out there and loving and serving in His name?!? Is the church a club or is it a body of believers loving those who need love and extending a hand to help? What are my motivations? Am I making this into a game or realizing the seriousness of people who are going lost everyday?
Lord, help me to serve in Your Name and not make this about me...only about Jesus.
--by grace
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