“for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28b
I’ve been practicing what I preach with regard to sharing the gospel. I’m not saying this to brag in any way. I’m saying this to encourage all of you to do the same. Without a doubt, I have been greatly blessed by it. You see, I’ve been spending a great deal of time on the phone with my customers. Overall, they are almost completely shut down. That doesn’t bode well for them, and it doesn’t bode well for me – financially speaking.
Early on, however, I was firmly convinced in my spirit that all this was God at work. He is moving to shut the mouth of the entire world so that they may know that he is God. I shouldn’t be surprised by this at all! How many times do I need to read my bible to see that God intentionally does just that? He says so through his prophets. If God is so close at hand, how could I not fling open the door wide and welcome him? This is a time of rejoicing!
At the same time, it is a time for action. If God is calling the world to repent, I better be calling it, too. Certainly, I need to clean up my act and drop the sin that ensnares me. That I’m doing, and it’s going well.
Now what? What should I be doing? Well, there’s that saying, “What would Jesus do?” What DID he do?
John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
What is our Father doing? Calling the world to repentance.
So, while I talk to my customers – every one of them – I have been talking about Jesus. It’s very easy. Sometimes they mention God or prayer. This is a door that is WIDE open. Others need a prompt from me. I usually say something on the order of, “I wonder what God is doing with all this?” Trust me, everyone is searching to make sense out of the virus. I’ve only had one person that wasn’t open about talking. Even with him, I had opportunity to give him enough to think about.
My message is one of repentance and hope. Believe it or not, people can see the need for repentance. They all see how materialistic the world has become, how nobody has time for family, and how much we all fight. They see. They might not have been so willing to admit it a month ago, but they are today.
There is also great hope to share. This one is a little harder for them to see, and a little harder for them to accept that Jesus is really the only hope we have. You see, not everyone will accept the gospel when they hear it, even when God has put them down on the ground. But I don’t know who will or will not ultimately accept his offer of forgiveness, so I share it openly with all.
Interestingly, I am also finding out that many are Christians. Some are very active, and some are very lazy. It’s been a great opportunity to encourage one another in this storm. Indeed, there is hope. Great hope.
So, really, my home is not of this world. My possessions will either all disappear or be left one day to someone else. My time on this planet is very, very short, so it is quite foolish of me to be so concerned with my “stuff” that I can’t see that God is working mightily right here, right now.
Why in the world wouldn’t I want to be working side by side with him?
Father, can I go to work with you today? Amen
Copyright © 2020 Scott Powers