Here are my reflections on Day 30 of Dr. Terry Teykl’s “My Most Wanted Devotional: 40 Days to Pray for the Lost.” Comments are welcome and encouraged.
The Stumble Inn
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:3-4 – NIV)
In my last charge, our church was not only the only United Methodist Church in the small town we served; it was also the only church in the town, period. This meant that not only was I the pastor of the church, I was also the chaplain for the whole town.
Part of being chaplain for the town was responding to the various issues that came up for the townspeople. I frequently visited people in the hospital that did not belong to our church and many were people I did not even know.
What really created an interesting dynamic for me in these visits is that the church had an undesirable reputation in the town. Most of the members were farmers who lived just outside of the town. They knew of people in the town, but were really very disconnected from them. The result was that I was run out of many hospital rooms when I did these visits.
One day, I “stumbled in” to the room of a woman from the town I did not know who was suffering from congestive heart failure. Her reputation in the town indicated that this would likely be a very short visit. She was very outspoken about her disdain for our church, and I anticipated being told to leave quickly.
When I entered the room I started to identify myself, but she interrupted me saying, “I know who you are. Why are you here?” Her words were the words of the confrontation that I was expecting, but there was something about her tone of voice that caused me to look closer at her face.
She was crying, scared to death of dying, and knew she needed to come to a saving knowledge of the truth. She received that saving knowledge that day, and I received the blessing of “stumbling in” to where God was at work. Can we overcome the fear of rejection and stumble in for God? I pray it would be so!
Prayer
Amazing God, forgive us for where we believe that salvation depends on us in even the slightest sense. Thank you for leading us by your Spirit into places where we can be used by you. Help us to be always sensitive to your leading. Amen.
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Hello Dave! We used this verse in our ladies group this AM. It was interesting that someone mentioned seeing an interview on TV with an inmate on death row, who had accepted Christ as his Savior while in prison. The interviewer jokingly asked, "You don't really believe you're going to Heaven, do you?" The inmate kindly said yes, and mentioned in God's eyes, his offense was no worse than stealing a piece of candy from the store. It's a true reminder that while we judge others, we have to keep in mind we are going to be judged by the same measure we give others. But our loving God wants no one to perish, no matter our offenses, and wants us all to come to a "knowledge of the truth" and be saved!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your heart of kindness and love! Jesse Hilbert
Amen, my sister! Give my love to your husband, and say hello to Pastor Paul for me!
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