"Do you go to church?" It took me weeks to ask him that. Lately, evangelism has really been on my mind, but shouldn't it always? I don't think I've ever given it the consideration and thought and passion that I should. Since the beginning of this year, I started school while working a full time job that includes travel. I have stressed over EVERY SINGLE ASSIGNMENT so much to the point that I was convinced I was losing all my hair (still am). I started breaking out. I wasn't sleeping enough. Every B that I made meant that I would never get into nursing school. Great! What will I do now? I stressed over the fact that I felt I was too old to start all over in my career. I stressed about making simple mistakes and errors at work because I wasn't getting enough sleep to be fully aware on the job. My two closest friends moved away. My friend passed away. My heart was broken. I don't know of any other to describe how I felt than that. I had a broken heart. I stressed about my faith. Where will I go when I die? Do you feel me? Someone very wise gave me some great advice. He told me that I needed to get the focus off of myself. He said that all of my focus was on me and to try to focus on something else. So, I asked my coworker if he went to church. I had been playing out scenarios of how I would talk to him about Jesus for weeks. What if he asks me this and I don't know the answer? What if he thinks I'm some freak? What if he tells me he's an atheist? How in the world do you respond to that? I think that's Satan trying to keep me from doing my job which is spreading the gospel. I'd like to tell you that we had this amazing conversation about God and faith, and he agreed to come to worship with me. I'd like to tell you that I asked him some thought provoking questions that made him question his own faith and why he believed what he believed. Friends, I simply asked him if he went to church. The rest of the conversation was pretty short. I gave him a card that had our church's name, location, service times, and contact info. I found out that he is somewhat religious. That's pretty much all I know. It's a start right? I had been praying God for courage to speak to him about God. I had been praying to God for the courage to let my light shine and not care what others think about me. It felt so good to just do that. I'm not done yet. I've got more to build on with my coworker. Inviting someone to church does not equal spreading the gospel, but it's a start. It's a seed. I thought about it for the rest of the day. Not because I was so proud of myself but because what had been holding me back no longer was. I did it. I TRIED. My mind was racing. What's next? When will be the next opportunity to plant another seed with him. What about my other coworkers? More seeds to plant. I was excited. I was reading 1 Corinthians last night, and this verse is sooooo good.
1 Corinthians 1: 18-19: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." We can't let fear of what others will think stop us from sharing God's word. God even told us they would think we were crazy. Some out there will listen to us though. They will realize that what you're saying makes sense. They will read God's word for themselves and realize that they need to make a change in their life....a big change. We won't convert everyone. Our job is to plant a seed. Someone else waters. God gives the increase. The reason I"m writing about this is that it took the focus off of myself. I was not worrying about these classes I'm taking and how I'm going to juggle it all with work. What is more important is teaching the truth in love. When you focus on Godly things, worldly things seem so much smaller and less important. My fears aren't gone. I'm no pro at evangelizing. Who is? Today I'm just a little more courageous than yesterday. I have to build on that.
1 Corinthians 1: 18-19: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." We can't let fear of what others will think stop us from sharing God's word. God even told us they would think we were crazy. Some out there will listen to us though. They will realize that what you're saying makes sense. They will read God's word for themselves and realize that they need to make a change in their life....a big change. We won't convert everyone. Our job is to plant a seed. Someone else waters. God gives the increase. The reason I"m writing about this is that it took the focus off of myself. I was not worrying about these classes I'm taking and how I'm going to juggle it all with work. What is more important is teaching the truth in love. When you focus on Godly things, worldly things seem so much smaller and less important. My fears aren't gone. I'm no pro at evangelizing. Who is? Today I'm just a little more courageous than yesterday. I have to build on that.