I remember one particular summer day many many years ago when I was a teenager. We lived across from the clubhouse so during summer break I would walk across the street and lay out at the swimming pool for hours at a time with some of my girlfriends that lived in the neighborhood. On this said day, a group showed up at the clubhouse and was walking around talking to everyone. Now, I don't do well talking to people I don't know so the no eye contact had to be enforced on my part and I certainly did not want to be bombarded by a group of individuals interrupting my tanning time as I badly needed those sun rays to interact with all that baby oil (or butter if I was out of oil) I had smothered myself with in order to give me that deep dark tan that I desperately wanted. I mean I was on a mission for crying out loud and was soon needing to spray my hair with more lemon juice once the allotted time had passed since I had previously spritzed. Plus, it's really hard to hear Mark & Brian, Jimbo Wood, and the jams of my favorite station I-95 when someone is trying to speak to you over the sound of the radio. So what happened? Of course they stopped and talked to us. I honestly don't even remembered what all they said to us or how long they stood there blocking those precious sun rays but out of that entire conversation, there has been only one thing that I have ever remembered. One of the guys in the group was sitting next to me and he asked me if I was a Christian. I must have looked ridiculously confused because he then asked if I knew what a Christian was. I then replied, "Oh yeah".
How stupid I must have looked. I don't even remember if he kept pressing me, prayed over me, or continued the conversation. My guess would be all of those things but for whatever reason I don't remember. I was so clueless at that time in my life. So worldly. So self absorbed....and apparently Vitamin D sufficient. All I cared about in those moments was having fun and getting a nice tan. I may have even fit in lunchtime if I was feeling light headed that day from not eating anything earlier as I would have basically slept until it was time to get "fixed up" for the pool, ignoring breakfast. I could have cared less why those people were there and certainly did not know God, other than that He created the universe. I bet those individuals would have loved to have a nice summer day relaxing by the pool with no worries but instead they were sacrificing. I thought they were wasting a perfectly great day but in reality I was. They were out in 95 degree weather spreading the Gospel only to be denied and rejected who knows how many times my little punks like myself. God was pursing me through those men and women who I looked at with my dim, dark, empty eyes yet thinking I was glowing all the while. How weary those who carry out the work of the Lord must get sometimes when they seem to get nothing in return except bad attitudes, strange stares, ugly comments, and pure shut out. But the Lord promises more. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. We were even reminded of this long before Jesus came to this earth. Isaiah 40:31 tells us but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Years later God was gracious enough to pour out His mercy upon me and save me from a life apart from Him. My father was not a Christian at the time and I remember sitting next to him in church one day. Weeks, maybe a couple months prior, he began to seemingly show an interest in learning more about this God or Savior or whoever He was. On that morning, it was the time during the service where the congregation was up singing hymns from our hymnals. I was standing next to my father and I literally began shaking and could feel my heart beating so hard that I felt it was about to explode. I kept thinking, "Ask him. Just ask him if he wants me to walk up front with him. He'll just say no. He'll get mad if I ask. I don't want to make him uncomfortable, God." As the music and singing stopped, I knew I had missed my opportunity. I felt sick. I believed I was clearly having the Holy Spirit moving within me to invite my father to ask Jesus to be his Lord and Savior and I didn't because I was scared of my father's rejection. Unintentionally, I was willing to risk my father spending an eternity in hell over my feelings being hurt by him saying no. God has never allowed that memory to leave my mind. My father eventually accepted Christ.
Proverbs 29:25 - Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
2 Timothy tells us that God does not give us a spirit of fear or timidity but rather power and love and self discipline.
From the lips of FDR, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
What about the Chris Tomlin song, Whom Shall I Fear?
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies
is always by my side.
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
the God of angel armies
is always by my side.
Nothing formed against me shall stand!
Sharing the Gospel is not a suggestion. It is a command.
Mark 16:15 - He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
Matthew 28:18-20 - Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 107:2 saying, Let the redeemed of the LORD share their story, for they have been delivered from the hand of the foe.
Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 9:13 - Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
I am thankful beyond measure for God's grace. I am thankful that I still remember those precious souls that came to the clubhouse that day. I am thankful that my father's eternity wasn't totally dependent on my reaction that day in church. I am thankful that God has a pursuant heart and doesn't turn His back on me even when I turn mine on Him. I am thankful that He chooses to use us as His tools to bring others to Him. I am thankful that I don't get an eternity which I deserve. I am thankful.
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