Sometimes it takes countless rides over the course of hundreds of days before you and a passenger are blessed with a "God moment". Sometimes a passenger is very "hardened" to the Gospel and very resistant to receiving it's Good News.
That's the way it has been with her. Oh, she is softening to US (the drivers) lately . . . . (We take her to work five days a week. We also drop off her two boys at Day Care in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.) . . . . but, she has not softened to Jesus, yet.
In cases like this, our "method of evangelism" remains very straightforward and simple. Just keep helping! Just keep getting them where they need to go! At the same time, PRAY for them, share with them, look for opportunity. Look for an open door to go deeper!
Then, one day, when you least expect it, it happens!!
Today, that door opened!! Today a seed was planted . . . no longer dropped on the hard soil of stubborn human resistance. . . but planted! I saw it on her face! I heard it in her voice!
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We had pulled into the DayCare and she had taken her boys inside. She's usually in there for a few minutes, so, I turned on the radio, waiting for her to return.
On one of the Christian stations, they were telling the story of a highly trained Navy Seal who, six months before, had volunteered for a mission. Some locals and some soldiers had been stranded on a hill and were surrounded and out numbered by their enemies. Unless they were extracted by helicopter, they would surely all be killed.
This man didn't have to go. He had come to the place in his military career where he actually trained others in helicopter extraction. He was no longer a member of an active extraction unit. But the situation was desperate and he felt that he was needed. He went, and the rescue was accomplished. But, eight Seals died on that hill that day, and he was one of them.
By the time my passenger returned to the van, they were interviewing the widow of this man. She told of how it was "so like him" to think of others before himself and how, though she missed him, he was a hero to her and to their children.
The rest of the way to her job, we talked about the depth of that singular act of courage and sacrifice. She was deeply affected.
As we were talking, the "God Moment" came upon us. I felt it - as unexpected and obvious as a warm breeze on a cold day. The Holy Spirit gently spoke to my heart, and said , "Tell her, again. She will understand, right now, like never before. Tell her."
We had pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant where she works. As she was unbuckling and opening the door, I turned to her and said, "You know, that's what Jesus did for us. We were hopelessly surrounded with no way out. He didn't have to come on this mission. But he did, because he loves us. He came to rescue us. And it cost Him his life."
Over the last 18 months, I (and others) have told her enough about Jesus that she knows what I am talking about.
Her eyes become reflective. Deep thought passes across her face. She slowly replies, "Yeah, I see what you mean." She closes the door and is gone, off to work!
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Oh, it's sweet to be there when a heart is tender and a seed goes deep! Our Lord Jesus, in that instant of understanding, was seen for Who He really is. In that moment it became personal for her, way beyond "that man that you guys are always talking about". Jesus is the greatest of Heroes, and she knows it like she has never known it before!
Moments like that make it all worthwhile! Moments like that make your day and give you strength to go on! Moments like that are REALLY why we're out here on the road!
As I was driving (ok, floating) away, I remembered the many drivers who are praying for her and helping her, every day. There is NO DOUBT that their efforts and their prayers opened this door, today!
What a blessing to see some of the fruit of all those prayers and all those efforts.
Lord, we thank You for this blessing. We thank You for this God Moment! May she have many more, until she cannot help but surrender to Your love and receive You into her heart as Lord and Savior!
Please bless HER with MORE OF YOU!!
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Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
(Mark 4:20 NIV)
"Always be a little kinder than necessary." - James M. Barrie
(First Written - Dec. 2005)
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