"Ok, it's time to go door-to-door and find more people to study the Bible with!" I thought to myself. I stop my car and I prayed - more earnestly this time - as there were only a few more hours of daylight left for me to work. "I need to work some neighborhoods close to the church and invite any children I see to Vacation Bible school!" I say to myself. Before I pull out the map my prayer is that God will guide me to those who will want to study the Bible - because I needed His Spirit to direct me where to go! As I look at the roads on the map nearest to the church, my eyes fall on a little street - a dead end. I feel drawn to go to that street. For a moment I question, thinking "It's only a little street." But then I remember, I had prayed. "There must be someone there who God wants me to reach. I will follow through with that plan."
As I drive around the road leading up to the little dead end, I see there's not many houses. I had planned to start going door-to-door on that street, but with no houses, I began to wonder how this would work out! Then I see the little dead end. "Oh! It's apartments! God knew what He was doing! How exciting! I'll get to meet lots of people here!"
After knocking several doors with no one home or no one interested, I meet a lady whose initial response to me is, "I'm not interested in what most churches offer, because I've been through a divorce, and most churches are totally against divorce, but in my situation I had to because I was abused." I affirm her in the fact that Jesus doesn't condemn for that, and neither does church, I say I understand why she would have had to get the divorce. She opens up to me and shares her story. As we connect, we speak of the beauty of how Jesus heals broken hearts. I am inspired as I see how Jesus has carried her through! She is so open, I can actually understand what she is telling me, we are both positive, and I realize I have just met a sister in Christ! "I always knew that God has been the one to carry me through this", she tells me.
I invite her to start exercising with a friend and I, and she said she would enjoy that. I continue to throw in questions from the survey, and she answers, "Yes, I would like that!" to every question. When I get to Bible studies, she says, "I love studying the Bible," and asks "What else do you have?" I invite her to come to church on Saturday. "Oh, I could do that", she says, "That would give me something to do to get out of the house and not just sit here lonely on Saturday mornings." I pray a heartfelt prayer with her and set up a time to come back and study the Bible, before I leave. She gives me a hug and I say, "I can't to come study with you Tuesday!"
I left that door so happy!!! So overflowing with joy and smiles, that I could hardly talk calmly at the next door I was doing a survey at! I was so looking forward to coming back and studying the Bible with the new friend I had just met and I was sure she was the person God had brought me to this street to meet!
We are in the last hours of earth's history, though we don't know the day or the hour of Jesus' return, we know that time is short. Oh how we must pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit to lead us to those who are open to God's Word! And oh how we must work earnestly, giving our all. Whether that means sacrificing our plans, giving of our time, or giving of our money, or giving of our talents, we must do it, we must give the message for Jesus!
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