“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
It was 10 PM on Thursday, September 14, 2017, in Waukon Iowa. After a long, eventful day at Homeschool Family Camp, I was ready to catch a good night’s rest at the Stony Creek Inn with my wife Cassidy. After parking our Toyota Camry near the hotel, we strutted towards the side door of the hotel in order to get to our room as fast as possible.
The Opportunity and Decision
In that moment, I saw three rough looking construction workers about 10 yards away from us. I brushed off the voice of the Holy Spirit while I opened the door and went with Cassidy to our room. Surely, rest is most important, I thought. Besides, these were not the type of guys I would want to talk to with my wife standing by my side.
Despite my unwillingness, I somehow couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that I was resisting God’s voice. By the time we got to our room, I knew positively that the Lord wanted me to speak with them.
I now had a decision to make. Would I obey or disobey the call to share my faith? I recalled previous times when I had brushed the Holy Spirit aside in favor of my selfish reasoning. However, this time, by God’s grace, I chose to obey. I left Cassidy in the room, and trudged back unwillingly to witness to these three men.
Initiating Conversation
The moment of truth had arrived. After walking up to the men I first I introduced myself and learned their names and a little bit about each one of them. I then offered them the “Are you A Good Person” tract by Living Waters (my personal favorite). Immediately, one of the three refused the tract, but the other two accepted it.
As I began sharing God’s Word with them, the man who had refused the tract continued interrupting and spewing out profuse profanities. He clearly didn’t want to listen. Within a few minutes he walked off with his beer in one hand, leaving me with Fernando and Javier.
Sharing the Gospel
One them asked me to explain more. Encouraged by his interest, I went through the Ten Commandments and asked both men if they considered themselves to be good people. Though both were nominal Catholics, they realized clearly that they were sinners, and if judged by God’s law would be guilty of hell. I then shared the gospel with them, and answered a few of their questions.
At the end of our conversation, I asked if I could pray for them, and they agreed. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would convict them and that they would seek the Lord, repent, and believe on Him. Before I left, Fernando and Javier genuinely thanked me for sharing the gospel with them.
Though I didn’t feel led to ask them for a commitment, I was grateful that the Lord had allowed me to sow the seed of His Word on fertile soil. As I walked back to our hotel room, my heart overflowed with joy and gratefulness.
Sadly, there have been many more times when I have not heeded the Holy Spirit’s call to witness. However, from this witnessing encounter I drew at least four lessons.
1. God always has a specific reason for us to witness to someone.
When we say no (as I have so many times), we’re actually putting ourselves in the place of God by thinking that we know better than He does. This disobedience is one of the greatest forms of pride, as it elevates our reason above the authority of Christ.
In the early church, men like Peter, Phillip, and Paul, never refused to speak the Word when God prompted them, because they knew that He had a specific reason for them to witness (Acts 8-10). Like them, may we strive to always obey God’s call.
2. Second, we must daily seek God to be in tune with the Holy Spirit’s leading.
So many of the people we cross paths with every day, whether at the store, the gas station, at work, or at home, have been sent our way specifically. We must view these, not as random encounters, but as divine opportunities.
However, if we have not spent time with God and are not in tune with His leading, we will miss these opportunities. Like Paul, may we daily ask, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do” (Acts 9:6)?
3. Third, we must be prepared beforehand.
While God promises us that the Holy Spirit will give us words to say (Matthew 10:19-20), He also charges us to be ready always to give an answer (I Peter 3:15). How can we reconcile these two commands? These two commands intersect when the Holy Spirit brings to mind the Word of God that we have already placed inside our hearts.
God will not give you a verse to quote that you have never memorized. If you aren’t familiar with the law and the Gospel, God will not bless your lack of preparation. However, when we love God’s Word and familiarize ourselves with the law and Gospel the Holy Spirit brings out the right words at the right time in order to bring conviction.
While we must prepare ourselves to evangelize, we must also trust God to guide our lips. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
4. Last, there is always time to do the Father’s work.
Whether He wants us to encourage a brother or sister in Christ, disciple our family, donate time to a need, or share the gospel with the lost, there is adequate time to do His will. Indeed, we should joyfully welcome all divine interruptions to our schedule, so that in all areas of life we may be about the Father’s business.
In Luke 2, Christ stayed behind in the temple conversing with the doctors of the law. When His parents finally found Him after three days, they asked him, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy Father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” Christ answered, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:48-49)?
Conclusion
As we follow Christ may we never forget to seize the divine opportunities that He gives us to sow the seed of the gospel in individual lives! If we do so, we will be filled with joy, Christ will be lifted up, and the world can be transformed for the glory of God!
Question: How often do you obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting to share the gospel? Do you view the lost with the compassion that Christ views them with?
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8 Comments
Chad · October 8, 2018 at 9:10 am
“ Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes, and we shall not labour in vain, for he who bids us let down the net, will fill it with fishes.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon
Chad · October 5, 2018 at 10:01 pm
You know a couple things that I think is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, the one who was considered the good neighbor to the injured man was the one who helped the man and had mercy on the man who was left half dead. When I consider that everywhere we go there are people who are more than half dead. There are people who are fully dead and are going to perish eternally and we have the Words of life to give to them, that will help them, that will save them, and we are not having mercy on them and sharing these Words. We could doctor their wounds with these Words and yet we walk on by. Are we being Good Samaritans and loving our neighbors as ourselves when we pass them by? I don’t think that we are. Another thing that I think of is the parable of the talents. Surely He has given us the talent to be able to share the love and knowledge of God with people, the ability to be a witness for Him, the ability to let our lights shine in a way that it is noticeable to all, and those that see our lights will praise our God from which the light comes. I’m concerned that if we don’t use this talent that He will take the talent away from us and give it to another. If this happens, He will not call us good servants. It’s like use it or lose it. At the end of the parable, to be in the position of having your talent taken from you because you did nothing with it sounds like a terrible position to be in. Surely, we want to stay clear from this. These are just some more thoughts that I had.
Anonymous · October 3, 2018 at 7:52 am
I love your words. From strutting (your agenda) to trudging (His agenda). Lol
Chad · October 3, 2018 at 7:48 am
I love the picture that you paint in the intro. You were in self mode. You were on your agenda and your personal mission. You knew what you were gonna do and exactly how you were gonna do it. That happens frequently when God wants to show you the right mind-set. In steps God with conviction, reminding you that you are on His mission, His agenda. If we can just have this mind-set all the time without Him having to make us have it.
Stacey K · October 2, 2018 at 6:48 pm
Joshua,
This post hits home so hard due to my meeting many unbelievers at school these days. Having a heart for them has been very hard since, due their being lost and going nowhere. Thank you for sharing! May we all press forward together!
Joshua Bontrager · October 12, 2018 at 11:44 am
Stacey,
God has placed all of us where we are for such a time as this. Our duty is to be faithful to shine His light, no matter where He places us or how difficult it may be. He never asks us to go anywhere that He will not walk with us. He gives grace to those who follow Him by faith.
John · October 2, 2018 at 10:46 am
Josh,
I am ashamed to say that I have only shared the gospel with one person. I have felt the Holy Spirit promting me to share Christ at different times but I have always let my fear of talking to strangers get the better of me. This is something that I struggle with and I think it helps when others share that they also fail in the same area. In our human pride we often do not want to admit that we fail. Thanks for sharing these things with us.
Joshua Bontrager · October 2, 2018 at 12:48 pm
John,
Thanks for your honesty! I don’t think sharing the gospel to strangers is an easy and natural thing for very many people to do. Like you, there have been many times I have not been faithful to share. However, I’m thankful for Christ’s grace–that He empowers us to do His will and loves us even when we fail Him.
The first step in the right direction is to humbly realize that we’re all we should be for Christ. When we acknowledge that need, He can help us grow more like Him.