Mediocre Moment

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God....So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall.... This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.   Acts 19:8-10

What an example Paul is to all believers!  What a slacker I have been!  I have lived in my neighborhood for 2 1/2 years and I have not shared the gospel with anywhere near the number of people that Paul did during his two years of ministry in this area of Asia.  How much longer will I continue living a mediocre christian life for Christ?!  How long will I live in the comfort of my suburban home before I am convicted beyond all complacency to "go forth and make disciples" of those living in my circle of accountability?  Do i know if my neighbors are saved?  I'm pretty sure they're not.  How can I know?  Love them, love them some more, and then ask.  Push the conversations past talking about the weather and ask them about their spiritual backgrround.  INVEST IN THEM! 

I've noticed getting more and more pulled into to a christian bubble.  Not intentionally.  The demands of ministry with family and church occupy the majority of my time.  However, having coffee with a neighbor the other day and not knowing where she stands spiritually encouraged me that I do have time!  And then, my time in the Word today reading about Paul, has reminded me that I am not doing enough for the kingdom and for God's glory. 

I am praying big, asking God for mounds of opportunities to get to know my neighbors and move our conversations to a point where I share the story of His Son with them.  I want to be living for something beyond this lifetime, beyond this world.  A cause that trasncends time and space and this lifetime.  I want to be used by my Creator to do the things which He has created me to do!  He commands us all to "go forth and make disciples of all nations...."  I do not believe I have been obeying Him in this area of my spiritual life lately.  But I am inspired to change that!  And it starts tomorrow!  -Getting intentional.

Thank you Lord for using the words of Paul to motivate me to get missional on my street, my section of the neighborhood, and in my neighborhood as a whole.  Lord, homeschooling the kids doesn't leave me a whole lot of free time, but I am trusting that you would multiply my time so that I have pockets of opportunities to connet with ladies and just love on them and, if it's Your will, to share the gospel of Your Son, Jesus, with them.  I'm praying BIG God!  I'm asking to have 25 opportunities to share the gospel with women in my neighborhood over this school year.  Bring me 25 women with whom I can talk to about the life changing reality of Jesus Christ in order to give them the choice to accept you or reject you.  25 opportunities to share hope and assurance of salvation my neighbors.  Go ahead of me and bless those conversations, Lord.  Prepare the hearts of those women I talk to whom are lost and desperately searching for such a hope as only You can give.  Make my words clear and Your scripture flow from my mouth.  Paint a picture of your forgiveness and grace through me as only You can do.  I want to see You work, Lord!  I want to see life change!  Use me to carry out this mission of seeing every man, woman, and child hear the gospel!  Only through the power of Your very own Son, Jesus.  Amen.

Hope

Mentoring and discipling people, I think, are one of the most discouraging things to do.  God never said it would be easy.  "Pick up your cross and follow me."  "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  "In this world you will have trouble..."   It's a sacrifice of ones self, it takes lots of time and patience, and it is hard, discouraging, and painfully emotional.  Pouring your time and God's Word into them and all that He's taught you, investing in them, growing to love them more and more deeply, seeing them as God sees them and their potential, and spending hours and hours praying for them.  Rearranging your schedule to meet with them, taking time away from your family and let's face it, some days, stuff that you would rather get done instead of taking time out to meet with them.  It is exhausting, emotionally taxing, and heartbreaking most of the time.  However, I also see an amazing opportunity to grow myself spiritually in my reliance on God.  To deepen my understanding of God's design for us as Christians and how much more clearly I understand that design when living in obedience by being a disciple as He calls me to be.  There is fruit, joy, and benefit from that- if nowhere else but in me!  I know that sometimes the seed falls on good soil and takes root and bears fruit, but in seasons where the seed seems to be falling on rocks, or choked out by thorns, this fact has been all that keeps me going. 

Lately, the advice I've been giving those I'm mentoring has seemed to just bounce right off of them in areas where I've desperately been asking God for it to penetrate their heart.  I've been discouraged and frustrated by this and wondering if my time spent with them is even making a difference and worth it.  In the midst of my questioning it God spoke to me in His Word this morning. 

Acts 17:10-11  Here Paul and Silas left Thessalonica and went to Berea, a city 25 miles west, and went right to the Jewish synagogue.  "Now the Bareans were of more noble character than the Thessaloninans, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures everyday...."  Through this scripture God spoke to me through the power of the Holy Spirit.  What He shared with me is not new to me but He gently reminded me and it gave me comfort.  Here is what He said, 'No book of the Bible was ever made for the Bareans.  They accepted their new found faith and embraced it with eagerness studying the scriptures and living in obedience.  It was easy to disciple and mentor them for they were hearers of the word as well as doers.  They listened and obeyed Me.  But what would the Bible be like if there was no letter written to encourage the Thessalonians?  If they did not struggle with their new found faith and stumble and fall and not get it as quickly and easily as the Thessalonians, then Paul would have never written them and we would not have 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the scriptures to guide, teach, and encourage us!' 

I must realize that what seems to me like someone who is not getting it and wondering if I'm just wasting my time, is actually them having to learn something the hard way, while God places me in their life to speak His truth and wisdom into it.  To me, in that moment, it may seem like they are not getting it, and I may never see any fruit from it.  But I must trust that, like the letter Paul sent to the Thessalonians, that God's word that I taught them and poured into them will not go out void.

My responsibility is to be available and obedient in discipling others and trust that He will do the rest.  And I must accept that I may never see the fruit from my labor because in fact it's not my labor at all that did any good but in fact it's all God's doing both through me and in them!  I don't need to see the glory revealed to them because it's not my glory but rather His!  For faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see!  I am certain, that "He who began a good work in me will finish it out to completion."  He is working in the lives of people I meet with, whether I am seeing it in that moment or may never see it, I must hold firm to the promise that He is working and take joy in that!

God thank you so much for all this that you have taught me today in my time spent with You.  Thank you that you are so patient with me and so quick to teach me!  I love having a relationship that is so close with You.  I praise You for those people you have placed in my life that I am discipling and whom You are teach me through my time with them.  I praise You for how you work!!