A few weekends ago, I had the privilege to go camping with some other Gospel For Asia staff members. It was an awesome weekend and I learned a lot, and in some ways that I never expected to learn them. Here’s what I learned.
Some of us went fishing. The patience required is much like when you’re waiting on the Lord. You cast your line, in faith, and you wait. You don’t know what’s next, or what’s going on below the water. You just have to be prepared for what could happen next. God’s given us a whole book of instruction, and we even have the instructor living inside of us! We need to be ready and prepared to act when God says to go. Back to fishing… If you get a catch that’s like an answer to prayer, you need to then reel it in so it doesn’t get off the hook, Likewise, even if you don’t get a catch, that’s yet another answer to prayer, you then have to reel in your line and re-cast. God knows what you need, when you need it. So don’t be disappointed when you don’t get the “catch” you want, and when you want it…
I also learned a lot about trust. During the weekend, we went rock climbing and ended up stranded on top of a 35 foot rock formation in the dark. So I learned to trust people that I don’t know very well and it was scary at first, but after a while I learned that I am safe with the rope and harness and someone who knows what they’re doing up top. God’s provided us with all that we need for the tasks He gives to us. He doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle in His strength. That’s like our rope and harness, and God’s up top knowing exactly what He’s doing, all He needs us to do is sit back, and trust Him to get us to our destination safely.
Some of you that have been keeping up with this blog from the beginning, might remember the story I told when I got back from Asia about the children in the river? About the urgency of “there is such a thing as too late”?
Well, while I was out support raising, I was a part of a homeless ministry with my church. I really felt like I was a part of that ministry, and I fell in love with the people in Philly that were lost, and knew they were lost, but didn’t want to accept it or accept the hope that Jesus provides.
One of my homeless buddies was named Black. He was about 54-55 years old. And he was determined to believe in the another faith, but was really curious about Christianity because he grew up in the church, but had turned away later on in his life. We talked to him every week and brought him to church almost every week as well. He really enjoyed it and felt like people were loving on him even though they didn’t know him very well. Which was awesome! He was experiencing Jesus’ love through us! He started talking about the possibility of coming to Christ, which made us all really happy. We were finally getting through to him! So we kept encouraging him and encouraging him, week after week. Answering all the questions he had, and loving on him.
Sometime last week, however, Black passed away. My mom just told me of this sad news. It was shocking. To think… I knew this guy, I loved this guy, and I was praying for him every day that he would somehow turn to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And now he’s gone…
Just like that… he’s gone. One more lost soul plunged into eternity. I can only pray that before he died, he finally accepted the Lord. But really, I don’t know. No one does except the Lord.
Anyway, I’m writing this post as an encouragement to you all, and also as a request. Please pray for the rest of those homeless people, both in Philadelphia, and also in Asia. There are so many people that still have yet to hear! And there’s no telling when they might be gone, forever. We need to reach these people.
And it took one of my friends dying to remind me of that urgency we need to have to reach the lost world.
Some of you might be thinking that this is tragic news, but remember Romans 8:28. EVERYTHING works for the good. Black’s death will be used by God, and is being used to impact many lives. Praise God for that.
Thanks for reading, and I’m so thankful that God has put us in an position where we can reach the lost world each day.
I don’t have the time. These are words that I have lived by. I don’t have time to read my Bible, I don’t have time to get alone and pray, I don’t have time to read that biography. After all, I work and then I have to get home to facebook and calling my family. I have to take a nap, I have to take a shower, In have to do my laundry… The list goes on and on.
We live in a culture where we are taught that we can do what we want to do – and we live by that. Not that we want to follow the worlds example but we want to be comfortable within God’s commands. We don’t realize that God calls us to be just as radical as Jesus Christ was. Paul says to “follow me as I follow Christ”. This is a pretty huge deal. I don’t want to live like Paul! Man, that guy was shipwrecked, he was beaten, he barely escaped from so many murder plots. Oh, wait, yeah, I remember now… he was that guy that got beheaded. But…he knew Christ.
My point is that being a Christian means more than just going to church and praying when people are sick. Those are good things but they are definately not what defines us as Christians. “They were first called Christians at Antioch.” Little Christs is what the word Christian means. So, as a “little Christ” what must we do? We must follow His example. We must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength.
That means giving up our time to spend it with Him. Not because we must but because we want to love Him more. This King of the universe who came down as a man to redeem my soul… why wouldn’t I want to know Him more?
So look at my life and what do you see? Probably someone who’s time is spent in a lot of different ways. Some of it serving Christ, some of it wasted. What do I want to become? Someone who’s life is consumed with loving my King. You spend time on the things you value. When you say “I don’t have time”, you’re really saying that it’s not on the top of your priority list.
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