Yes, another note. I really need to get some work done, but I feel compelled to write.
A couple of weeks ago, Alecia and I were discussing my upcoming Walk to Emmaus. At one point, she jokingly said something along the lines of, "Don't do or ask anything that's going to embarrass me." I said, "Like, why doesn't God just speak to us directly so we know he exists and don't have to go through all this on faith?" I think her exact words were, "Yeah. Like that."
So, on my three day Walk to Emmaus, I thought a lot about Alecia. I talked a lot about Alecia. I told my new friends about how she had told me that she thought I should do this walk, and I said that was all I needed to know…. I trusted her and her love for me and I would do it for her, no questions asked. And then the question came to my mind…. Why was I willing to throw myself blindly into a three day long event with no idea what it entailed, trusting Alecia’s love to take care of me, and I couldn’t commit to Christ’s plan for my life and trust Him to lead me where I should be going? Jesus sure wasn’t going to put me on a path that would hurt me any more than Alecia would.
I already mentioned in a previous note about the reference to Romans 12:3-8 and how I ended up looking up these verses and they resonated very deeply with me. What I didn’t mention was that another guy in our group was struggling with some issues. He said something about not feeling like he could witness for Christ because of his past, and Romans 12:3-8 popped into my head again and I immediately pulled out my Bible and read it to him. We had a lengthy discussion about how his past likely made him perfectly suited to witness to people that the rest of us would not be able to reach. He would be able to empathize with them.
Friday night, when I went to bed, I had a song stuck in my head and I could not get rid of it. That happens to me quite a bit lately, and 99% of the time, they’re Christian songs. Friday night’s song was a little ditty that we’re probably all familiar with. It starts like this…. “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Over and over and over again. And then the questions started running through my mind… “Is it really that simple? Did we learn all we really needed to know to accept Christ back when we were children? Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?” So what happened? The next morning, after a brief service in the chapel, we headed to breakfast. The music leader asked us to sing a song as we walked from the chapel to the dining hall. I’ll give you three guesses as to what song it he chose, but you’ll only need one. That’s right. I was floored… literally. I couldn’t stand up for several minutes.
There have been many instances like this. I could go on and on. I remember sitting at home a year and a half ago and thinking I should probably start going to church. So what happens? Tiffany Wilson texts me, tells me she’s singing a solo at her church that Sunday, and asks if I’d like to come hear her sing.
I remember sitting in church one of the first weeks after I started going back, and listening to Pastor preach to me. I mean, DIRECTLY TO ME. It was like he had been reading my thoughts. I had goose bumps.
So, as things progressed this weekend, I thought back to the question I had asked Alecia before embarking on this journey, and I realized that God does speak to me, and I can hear Him if I only listen.
And as I’ve been working on this note today, I pulled out a tin of “fish mints” that my future mother-in-law had given me on the way to the Emmaus walk Thursday. They’re mints that are shaped like fish, i.e. the Christian symbol for Jesus Christ. I had opened the tin Thursday evening and eaten a mint, but I hadn’t really looked at it. For the rest of the weekend and every day since, I faithfully put that tin of mints in my pocket every morning, even though I never ate another one because I was too busy sucking down cough drops and Zicam tablets. I felt compelled to carry it just in case. So this afternoon, when I pulled that tin out to finally get another mint, I noticed for the first time a little banner on the front that said “Bible Verse Inside.” I opened it up, and this was what was printed inside:
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20
I looked at the online store that sells these mints. They print 78 different bible verses in these tins. And I just "happened" to get this one. Yup. God speaks to me.
A couple of weeks ago, Alecia and I were discussing my upcoming Walk to Emmaus. At one point, she jokingly said something along the lines of, "Don't do or ask anything that's going to embarrass me." I said, "Like, why doesn't God just speak to us directly so we know he exists and don't have to go through all this on faith?" I think her exact words were, "Yeah. Like that."
So, on my three day Walk to Emmaus, I thought a lot about Alecia. I talked a lot about Alecia. I told my new friends about how she had told me that she thought I should do this walk, and I said that was all I needed to know…. I trusted her and her love for me and I would do it for her, no questions asked. And then the question came to my mind…. Why was I willing to throw myself blindly into a three day long event with no idea what it entailed, trusting Alecia’s love to take care of me, and I couldn’t commit to Christ’s plan for my life and trust Him to lead me where I should be going? Jesus sure wasn’t going to put me on a path that would hurt me any more than Alecia would.
I already mentioned in a previous note about the reference to Romans 12:3-8 and how I ended up looking up these verses and they resonated very deeply with me. What I didn’t mention was that another guy in our group was struggling with some issues. He said something about not feeling like he could witness for Christ because of his past, and Romans 12:3-8 popped into my head again and I immediately pulled out my Bible and read it to him. We had a lengthy discussion about how his past likely made him perfectly suited to witness to people that the rest of us would not be able to reach. He would be able to empathize with them.
Friday night, when I went to bed, I had a song stuck in my head and I could not get rid of it. That happens to me quite a bit lately, and 99% of the time, they’re Christian songs. Friday night’s song was a little ditty that we’re probably all familiar with. It starts like this…. “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Over and over and over again. And then the questions started running through my mind… “Is it really that simple? Did we learn all we really needed to know to accept Christ back when we were children? Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?” So what happened? The next morning, after a brief service in the chapel, we headed to breakfast. The music leader asked us to sing a song as we walked from the chapel to the dining hall. I’ll give you three guesses as to what song it he chose, but you’ll only need one. That’s right. I was floored… literally. I couldn’t stand up for several minutes.
There have been many instances like this. I could go on and on. I remember sitting at home a year and a half ago and thinking I should probably start going to church. So what happens? Tiffany Wilson texts me, tells me she’s singing a solo at her church that Sunday, and asks if I’d like to come hear her sing.
I remember sitting in church one of the first weeks after I started going back, and listening to Pastor preach to me. I mean, DIRECTLY TO ME. It was like he had been reading my thoughts. I had goose bumps.
So, as things progressed this weekend, I thought back to the question I had asked Alecia before embarking on this journey, and I realized that God does speak to me, and I can hear Him if I only listen.
And as I’ve been working on this note today, I pulled out a tin of “fish mints” that my future mother-in-law had given me on the way to the Emmaus walk Thursday. They’re mints that are shaped like fish, i.e. the Christian symbol for Jesus Christ. I had opened the tin Thursday evening and eaten a mint, but I hadn’t really looked at it. For the rest of the weekend and every day since, I faithfully put that tin of mints in my pocket every morning, even though I never ate another one because I was too busy sucking down cough drops and Zicam tablets. I felt compelled to carry it just in case. So this afternoon, when I pulled that tin out to finally get another mint, I noticed for the first time a little banner on the front that said “Bible Verse Inside.” I opened it up, and this was what was printed inside:
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20
I looked at the online store that sells these mints. They print 78 different bible verses in these tins. And I just "happened" to get this one. Yup. God speaks to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment