faith

It was going to be a three-hour bus ride. I sat down by myself and hoped it would stay that way. 

Just as we were about to leave the bus terminal, one more person got on the bus. Sure enough, he sat down right beside me.

Even though I still wanted to be alone, I started feeling guilty about my selfish attitude. I prayed, "Lord, if you want me to speak to this person, get him to say the first words." 

A few minutes later, the man picked up his book and started reading. I thought, "This is good."

Then, it happened. The man put his book down and looked at me. I started getting worried. 

His very first words to me were, "So, what do you think about God?"

For the next three hours, I had the opportunity to listen to and share the Gospel with my new, unsaved friend—someone who was obviously seeking truth. 

In John 12:42, we see that some of the Jewish leaders believed in Jesus. Yet, they refused to share their faith because they were afraid of getting kicked out of the synagogue.

In my experience, fear is one of the main reasons why I sometimes don’t share my faith. I’m afraid of what people might think. I’m afraid of awkwardness and conflict. Of course, sometimes I’m just selfish and don't really care about the other person. 

Yet, there is one thing that conquers fear and selfishness: love. If I really love someone, I am much more likely to help them. Obviously, I need to help people with their physical needs when I can. Yet, my highest calling is to help them take faith steps towards the One who took our place on the cross—the One who died and rose again so that we might have a deeply satisfying life both now and forever. 

Jesus’ love compels me to love others, even strangers on a bus. 

What are some of the fears that keep you from sharing your faith? How might Christ’s love help you overcome those fears?

Note: For additional help on sharing your faith, check out Six Ways Anyone Can Share Christ and Eight Biblical Reasons for Sharing Christ

Randy Wollf is Director of MinistryLift and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership Studies at MB Seminary. 

This amazing story from my friend Jackie demonstrates a thankful spirit even when life gets tough:

I was in a serious car accident the day of our 15th wedding anniversary.  To make a long story short, someone carelessly bombed out of a driveway across two lanes of traffic, trying to make a left turn around a transport parked next to the curb, and "forgot" there might be someone on the other side of that truck that he couldn't see.  

He hit me on the passenger side of my car - thankfully I was alone! - and shoved me across the yellow line into oncoming traffic...and my little Neon went into, and under, the front of another tractor trailer.  

When my car stopped, which was a miracle in itself at 55 km/hr, what was left of the front end of my car was pushed up to my knees. The grill of the truck, which broke my windshield and bathed me in glass, was close enough for me to see my reflection.

Why am I telling you this, you may ask?  Not to invite you to a funeral, or to be melodramatic...but because I felt compelled to share what God did for me in that moment that everyone dreads, when your life hangs in the balance (and I had time to see the transport coming and think, "Uh, oh, is it my time, God?").  

We want everyone to know what God is capable of, in one of those rare times that you get to see it firsthand.  By the grace of God, I walked away from my car (after they got me out) and rode with my husband to the hospital. That night, I came home to my own bed with no heart problems, no fractures and only a few, tiny glass cuts.

So this Thanksgiving is an opportunity for us to celebrate God's sovereignty, protection and grace once again.  We know that He could have chosen for it to end differently, and that still wouldn't have changed the truth of His love or provision for us...

How can we be thankful, like Jackie, even when life goes sideways?

One way is to believe that God is God. He is sovereign (Psa. 93). That doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to us. However, we can trust that God’s ultimate purposes will prevail. 

While serving at an English Camp in Thailand, I noticed a persistent pain in my calf muscle. Just before flying to Indonesia for the second stage of the missions trip, I emailed a couple medical doctor friends back in Canada about the problem. When I arrived in Bali where I was do some leadership training with Christian radio station managers, I checked my emails and saw one from one of my doctor friends. He said in no uncertain terms, “Get to a hospital now and get it checked out.”

Within a few hours, I had a diagnosis. I had a blood clot just behind my knee probably caused by a lack of movement and liquids on the 15-hour flight from Vancouver to Bangkok (for those of you who are wondering why the calf muscle was sore, it was because the muscle was not getting enough oxygen). The hospital staff immediately started me on a daily regime of warfarin stomach injections to thin my blood and hopefully break up the clot safely. I was still able to do my leadership training, but had to stay a few extra days until my blood was thin enough to safely fly. I was pretty discouraged by it all and felt very lonely (okay, I admit, having this happen in Bali did make it slightly more bearable). I eventually did make it home and made a full recovery.

I’m not big on pain and suffering (I’ve been known to get woozy at the sight of blood or needles). Yet, I’m coming to realize that God can produce good results in and through me when I go through times of suffering. Even during my extended stay in Bali, I had the opportunity to share Christ with a taxi driver on my way to the hospital for one of my daily injections.

In Acts 4-5, we see that the apostles were facing increasing pressure from the Jewish religious leaders in the Sanhedrin. These leaders had already told the apostles to stop speaking about Jesus (Acts 4:18). However, the apostles chose to obey God, rather than people. The result - the Jewish leaders had them flogged. What amazes me is that the apostles left their flogging session, “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41).