Divine Interruptions

  I am learning, with some reluctance, to enjoy interruptions in my life.  By my nature, I'm a planner, organizer, data driven, results oriented personality.   Unplanned, unforeseen events getting between me and the end result, isn't something I like (to put it mildly).   These traits are great for software engineering projects, but horrible for human relations.

 But this area of my life, like so many others, is being reshaped in the hands of the Potter.

 Today I had another opportunity to be interrupted.  I have been home for a total of 10 days this entire month due to unforeseen circumstances.  But God has used that time to have me listen, advise, relate, and pray for many different people in my sphere of influence.  Today, I had plans to meet with a Sister for a wonderful couple of hours of fellowship and sharing, then come home to catch up on much needed (in my opinion) housework and some rest.

  On my way home this afternoon, I came upon a couple on a country road whose car had run out of gas.   Fortunately, they had a gas can so I was easily able to help them out by running back to town with the can and getting gas for them.

 As I drove back from town with the gas, I prayed that God would use me to lift up Jesus to them.  I had just talked with my Sister in Christ this morning about how the world is okay with us referring to God in general terms, but to speak the name of Jesus in public was still very much frowned upon and/or met with open hostility.  After all, God can mean just about anything to people, but Jesus is very specific.  So I prayed that I would lift up Jesus to this couple in a meaningful way.

 The young lost couple were receptive to Christ.  They knew the 2nd greatest commandment (love your neighbor as yourself) and told me that they could tell that I was indeed a follower of Christ in that way, not a religious zealot (praise God for that is the greatest of all compliments in my mind).  They asked me about baptism and the Church we attend in Columbus and why we went there.  They asked about what we did for work so I was able to tell them about our ministry at the bookshop and told them that we would love to see them again if they were in the area (they were passing through apparently, although why on a country road nowhere near a major thoroughfare is beyond me).   We had about 20 minutes of talking together in total.  They asked about books and Christ and different religions (the man's grandfather is Mormon).  I was so blessed to be able to answer their questions without fear of sounding judgmental.  I could sense that they had met with many calling themselves Christian who judged them harshly.  I wonder how many times I have left someone feeling that way myself?  We were able to connect in a loving way and after the car was jump-started (I even had jumper cables amazingly) and running again we hugged and parted ways with smiles and blessings for each other.

  There is so much more I could have said to them and second guessed myself afterwards about what I did and did not say (human pride).  But truthfully, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide my words and witness so it is Him at work there and not me.  I have to trust that just the right things were said to plant seeds, or water seeds that have obviously already been planted.

  I share this story today to encourage my brethren.  If we are willing to be interrupted, and are equipped with the Word and the love of Christ (His grace and truth), God will send us divine opportunities to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. We don't have to push the issue or seek usefulness in His Kingdom, He will engage us where He wants us.  We just have to be willing and available for divine interruptions.

  Recently I asked God to affirm my evangelism method of blogging because that's how I feel most comfortable doing it but I also asked Him if He wanted me to do it on the street.  If so, I asked Him to show me when and how....well, I think He just did :-)

Taking up the Sword

  I am becoming more and more aware of the mission field that God has brought to us  in the U.S.  We no longer have to travel long distances and go to foreign countries to find people who have never heard the Gospel. God has brought nations of people to us!   Right here in my own relatively small community (approximately 60K people), we have people from Mexico, India, Asia, Europe, etc.  Just a little further out, there is a major university where even more nations of people are represented.

  Every day we are among people who have doubts, are skeptical, totally in the dark, or opposed to God.  Like no other time in history, we have an opportunity to spread the good news globally and defend the Christian faith by simply going into our own communities.  We also have access to more tools at our fingertips to help us be prepared to answer questions and skeptics with right doctrine.  Yet, data (and personal experience) indicates that more and more people identifying themselves as Christians are less Biblically literate than ever before.  This could be why many other countries are sending Christian missionaries to the U.S. to spread the Gospel.  God's plan will not be thwarted and THE Church will not be destroyed. If we are unwilling to be a part of the great commission, He will find other willing participants to carry it out, closing doors of local Churches and raising up new ones.  False religious organizations and cults certainly spend a lot of time and effort equipping their followers to spread their interpretation of gospel and they find many ill-equipped Christians as targets.


 So, with this thought in mind, God has been tugging at me to use technology and the vast resources, skills and talents He's gifted me with to  help equip those in my sphere of influence.  So today, I announce the beginning of a new blog called Armed With The Sword (swordofthespirit.blogspot.com) for that purpose. If you want to feel more confident in sharing truth with others or want to learn about why we can trust the Bible and the truths contained within, I hope you will follow the blog there.  If you'd like to see certain topics addressed, please feel free to let me know.

  Our time on earth is short.  Let's store our treasure in heaven by lifting up Christ to others in truth and love, with all gentleness and respect.  And let's be obedient to Christ's call to go and make disciples of all nations while we still can!