Have you ever heard someone say, "Be careful when you pray for patience. God is going to give you occasions for patience like never before"?Something similar has happened in my life over the past few weeks. I began praying for an awareness of others' eternal destiny, and opportunity to build relationships with others and share Christ's gospel of saving grace with them. God brought to my attention a deep and desperate need to care for the souls of others, to be awake, alive and painfully aware of the souls of others, the undeniable fact that the soul of each person in my life is eternal and will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell. At times I don't like this fact, and I can understand why many choose to not believe in an afterlife at all, because believing in one means there must be some sort of choice or action taken here on earth to ensure a good afterlife. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I believe that all humans have sinned (Romans 6:23) and thus cannot measure up to God's standard of perfection He requires for a human to spend eternity with Him in His heaven (Romans 6:23, Psalm 5:4). I believe that God requires death as payment for sin (Romans 3:23). I believe that Jesus Christ was God in human form who came to earth, lived a sinlessly perfect life and died a painful, sacrificial death on a cross to pay for the sins of all who would trust in Him alone for salvation to get to heaven (John 3:16, Titus 3:5). I believe that salvation or eternal life in heaven is a gift and that all one must do to receive it is trust in Christ's death as full payment for one's sins (Acts 16:31, Romans 3:23).
However, I understand that many people do not believe in God. Many do not believe the Bible is a historically proven and trustworthy Book. Many believe that God does not exist and that the Bible is full of fairy tales, and trying to take an objective viewpoint, I don't blame them. This world is filled with grief, anguish and suffering, and if I personally hadn't spent years of my life learning about the historical and archeological proofs for the Bible and seeing God at work firsthand in my life and others' lives, I would probably be on the same page as those skeptics.
Making this one huge step more personal, God has brought one particular person into my life for whom my heart breaks and cries out to God. God has placed me in a job that is full of open doors, with coworkers of all ages, walks of life and religious beliefs. One new co-worker just started this weekend, and we had some great talks on his first day, discussing society, our current public education system, the pros and cons of college, and our future plans. He is a very passionate person and I caught a little extra spark and fire for my current life situation and future plans just from our short discussions. Last night I found out that he doesn't believe in God, thinks that God is evil if He does exist, and believes there is no afterlife but rather a cessation of existence. I can usually distract myself with books, movies, exercise, art, or something else when I am upset, but last night nothing distracted me. I lay awake praying and woke up this morning praying for him. I know this is God's way of showing me how unbelievably selfish I have been to keep His gospel to myself, but I didn't know it would be this difficult. I praise God for the opportunity to make my faith more real and really delve into apologetics again as I haven't since bible school. There have been some very strange situations in my local Christian community since I have moved here, and sometimes it feels ( note the word feels) like Christianity in this area is false, just something to do or be when the church doors are open. Of course I know this isn't true, but I believe God is really showing me this in a personal way right now. He is demonstrating that He is very real, and that I need to delve deeper than I've been in years, to study, present truth, and agonize of the souls of those I love.
God, thank you for this opportunity. Make me strong enough for this task. Let my heart be broken for the things which break Thine heart.
However, I understand that many people do not believe in God. Many do not believe the Bible is a historically proven and trustworthy Book. Many believe that God does not exist and that the Bible is full of fairy tales, and trying to take an objective viewpoint, I don't blame them. This world is filled with grief, anguish and suffering, and if I personally hadn't spent years of my life learning about the historical and archeological proofs for the Bible and seeing God at work firsthand in my life and others' lives, I would probably be on the same page as those skeptics.
Making this one huge step more personal, God has brought one particular person into my life for whom my heart breaks and cries out to God. God has placed me in a job that is full of open doors, with coworkers of all ages, walks of life and religious beliefs. One new co-worker just started this weekend, and we had some great talks on his first day, discussing society, our current public education system, the pros and cons of college, and our future plans. He is a very passionate person and I caught a little extra spark and fire for my current life situation and future plans just from our short discussions. Last night I found out that he doesn't believe in God, thinks that God is evil if He does exist, and believes there is no afterlife but rather a cessation of existence. I can usually distract myself with books, movies, exercise, art, or something else when I am upset, but last night nothing distracted me. I lay awake praying and woke up this morning praying for him. I know this is God's way of showing me how unbelievably selfish I have been to keep His gospel to myself, but I didn't know it would be this difficult. I praise God for the opportunity to make my faith more real and really delve into apologetics again as I haven't since bible school. There have been some very strange situations in my local Christian community since I have moved here, and sometimes it feels ( note the word feels) like Christianity in this area is false, just something to do or be when the church doors are open. Of course I know this isn't true, but I believe God is really showing me this in a personal way right now. He is demonstrating that He is very real, and that I need to delve deeper than I've been in years, to study, present truth, and agonize of the souls of those I love.
God, thank you for this opportunity. Make me strong enough for this task. Let my heart be broken for the things which break Thine heart.
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