God, Running Late

For the last month or so my car has been out of commission thanks to a bad starter, and since I’m the standard poor college student and overly busy, I’ve gotten by thanks to rides from very generous friends and occasionally taking the bus. Up until this past Saturday it really hasn’t been too inconvenient. I was scheduled to work at 5PM, and sat at the bus stop waiting to hop on the bus that would carry me across town to Kohls and drop me off with a good 15 minutes to spare. It was not to be. The bus came 15 minutes late, which meant that we arrived at the transit center late and I missed my connecting bus and had to wait another half hour, ending up almost an hour late and not having time to get food for dinner, which means I fasted from 1pm that day until about 11:30 on Sunday.

Needless to say I was a bit frustrated. In such situations my mind knows full well that the Lord is sovereign and that He has some great reason for causing things to be as they are, but it is a completely different matter to actually feel it. Nonethless, I reminded myself over and over of what I knew to be true as I stood there waiting and thinking about how frustrating it was going to be to be late.

Finally, after a bit over a half hour the bus that I was waiting for arrived and I boarded, ending up sitting by a young woman who I’ve seen around the MSUM campus. We talked about various odds and ends of the standard first-meeting subjects, and when she asked me what I enjoyed doing in my free time I said something along the lines of “Well, I very much enjoy teaching and preaching.” That got a bit of a double take. She apparently thought she’d misheard, so I repeated myself. Teaching and preaching the gospel.

That little phrase led to a nearly 15 minute discussion of religion and Christianity, giving me a bit of an opportunity to share with her some (by no means all) of the gospel, and as we parted ways I gave her a copy of one of the books I got from Desiring God a few months ago which I always try to carry with me.

I ended up being nearly an hour late for work, but none of the managers seemed too frustrated. I didn’t get anything to eat other than a couple pieces of candy until nearly midnight, when one of my co-workers gave me a ride home and we stopped at Taco Bell. But none of that really mattered. God had used what felt to me like nothing more than a frustrating situation as a way to share his Word with a young woman from England.

I heard this evening from her roommate that she’s been “really getting into that book you gave her.” I praised God for doing work through a silly kid like me who lets something as little as being late for work hinder my faith.

My point is this – everything in our lives is placed there for the sake of spreading the gospel. Our God loves the people around you so much that he placed you there to bear witness to his grace and mercy in Christ. Our God loves the people of this world so much that he made me an hour late so that I could talk with that young woman.  Our God so loves this world so much that he sent you, his born again sons and daughters, so that you might draw them to believe in his one and only begotten son. Don’t waste the moments he gives you! Keep your eyes open and your hearts ready to do the work to which we are called as followers of Christ. You’ll be amazed at the places where opportunities pop up.

Remember, being Christian isn’t a Sunday morning, church activity thing. It is a whole shifting of the center and aim of your life. If you’ve been born again, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. And what does Christ do? He does what he sees the Father doing and does everything that the Father commands him. Live like that. There’s nothing more fulfilling than walking in step with the living God. It’s much better to be running late and be in stride with God than it is to be on time and be apart from Him.

A couple practical ways to do this;

• As I said in a recent post, be intentional! This isn’t the kind of thing that just happens, at least not at first.
• Carry a few books or tracts to give away. Just having them there is a constant reminder that we are constantly on mission. Check out Desiring God and Monergism for some excellent ones.
• Train yourself to make it known to people early on that you are a Christian. Don’t wait for “the right moment” to come up. Be a man (or woman) and just say it. By throwing down the gauntlet you’ll put yourself in a position to live up to what you say you believe.
• Read a book on evangelism. Mark Dever has a solid one that I greatly appreciated.  Spurgeon also has one that I haven’t read, but I promise is excellent.
• Read the Gospels and Acts. See how Christ and the Apostles and early church lived their lives and aim to imitate them.
• Memorize scripture! Having the Word in your head does huge things to remind you to stay in step with the Lord.
• Pray before you go. Before you leave your house, get out of your car, make breakfast, enter the office, leave your dorm, whatever, lift up a prayer to the Lord and offer yourself as his instrument in the place that you are entering. He’ll do stuff that surprises you.