when will i ever learn? to fully put my trust in God? it's been countless times that He has shown me the path to take, all in His time. each time i rely on my own strength, i regret i did not wait for His direction. of course, i'm not the only one. neither am i the first. already at the very beginning, adam and eve decided that their way was better than God's.
so, i was told to follow-up with someone who had come to one of our outreach events and responded by saying that she is interested in knowing more about Jesus. without knowing, the person who allocated me this girl just passed me her contact details and encouraged me to have a chat with her and maybe invite her along to one of our weekly session. and by God's appointment, it was someone who was living close by and i knew her! that made it easier. however, i was not without problems.
i'll admit and say that, although i have followed-up with people before, most, if not all of them, were Christians. and so, there i was, cracking my head to think of ways to start a conversation with this girl, as i didn't know what to say without making things awkward. what made matters worse was that i knew who she was, but i had never really spoken to her before. and i can tell you that i've failed many times in the past. besides that, the introvert me does not like to start conversations with people, more so people who i don't really talk to. so i asked God for help. i knew my time was short and i had to act fast. and being a person who worries quite a bit, i prayed quite hard for it. although, God doesn't answer our prayers based on how much we pray. He answers according to His will and what is good.
no prize for guessing, God answered by using something else that He had led me to be in charge of. when i was first asked to take charge of orgainisng a weekly badminton meet, to be honest, i was kind of reluctant as i would have just finished classes and would have to rush over to the courts to oversee things. right after would be the weekly sessions we have. and it is really quite tiring for me, especially since i do not have the strength i used to when i was in high school. i know i sound old, but believe me, i am not kidding you that i actually feel like that. i do not like it one bit as it limits my capabilities of doing a lot of things, but oh well, we do not have perfect bodies. (i can't wait to get a perfect body!) anyway, this girl started the ball rolling by asking me about it. and i took it as my cue. previously, i would have been such a chicken and picked up the hint but not act on it. however, i knew better this time. i asked for an opportunity and here it was in my face, i wasn't gonna let it go. so i started chatting with her a bit and invited her eventually for lunch the next day. it was cool that we had a free time at the same time! how rare is that!
and then there was the next problem i faced. again, i relied on my own strength. i kept thinking that night about what to talk about the next day. i know that a lot of times when i am with someone i just met, the conversation is gonna stop halfway with no topics to talk about. i, for one, suck at carrying conversations. again, i asked for God's help. God keeps His promises and will not leave us alone. especially when we carry out His will. He will guide us. we just have to listen and follow. just like a potter's clay, i decided to let Him do His work in and through me. and so, lunch came. i was astonished that we did not stop talking. we did not run out of things to talk about! although we didn't talk much about Jesus as per se, i know that that was just the ice-breaker to warm both of us up for what is to come. and the end of it, i asked her if she would like to explore the Bible. her facial expression was priceless. her face lit up at the sound of it and said that she would be more than happy to. as the quote says above, i cannot wait to start exploring the Bible together with her to see who Jesus is. we've had our share of food for the body. now's the time for food for the soul. of course God's in control and He is the Leader. can't wait to see where He'll lead me to. how to run these exploration sessions.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Lord, forgive me for not relying on You and Your strength. please lead me here on and help me to listen and obey Your voice. Amen.
