Reaching Out

Evangelism isn't my thing. Never was... being that I'm an introvert, I don't normally reach out to people (even in the name of Jesus). It's bad for a Christian to say this and I'm not necessarily proud of my "un-burden" for souls, but I can honestly say that I do not feel called to this area of ministry.

That having been said, I still have to check myself on the basis of the great commission: go tell everybody (and dey cuzzin) about Jesus. I have not been making an effort to do that because, somehow in my mind, it became enough for me to plaster my Facebook wall with Christian content. Yeah, I know... (#FAIL)  But, that has slowly been changing in the last few weeks, and I sincerely thank God that I'm being obedient to His directions.

Recently, an acquaintance told me that he and his wife were headed towards divorce. I was shocked and sad about it because even though he and I aren't 'friends', I immediately sympathize with anyone who deals with that ugly process that I endured via my parents when I was a small child. So I listened to his side of the story and let him know that I would keep his situation in prayer. Had I listened to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit while I was talking to the guy, I would have offered to pray with him, instead. *sigh*

That happened a few weeks ago and I did follow through with keeping him lifted up in prayer. But earlier this week, I inquired about his fam and he told me that his wife served him with the divorce papers. He vented about the whole ordeal and I felt helpless to relieve his frustration. But this time around, I decided to "woman up" and invite him to church. His response was polite but one of non-interest (which I expected), but I was glad that I followed through with it--kind of a big deal for me since I don't normally reach out to those to whom I'm not already close. Later that evening, though, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about him, again, during my devotional time. He said, "You should let him see Fireproof." And I thought "AWESOME!! That's something that he might relate to much better than a cold-turkey invitation to church!"

I gave him the DVD today but my Mom and I--I asked her to help me pray for him--prayed for a positive response last night. Hopefully, the Lord will use the movie to speak to him about more than just his marriage. I'm glad that I was used in this way to evangelize reach out to someone who is obviously hurting, even though it was as simple as listening to his profanity-laced tirade and letting him know that I cared... better yet, that Jesus cares! This may just be the start of a new part of my walk with Christ (and hopefully, the start of someone else's brand new walk with Him). :o)

Blessings,
pVI