Encouragement

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Many years ago in America a Christian evangelist was scheduled to address loggers at a forest camp, an oasis amid the trees.

He got to the camp but couldn't see anyone. He waited awhile, but still no sign of life. The preacher was disappointed. He was an instant coffee thinker. He had pictured immediate conversions of some loggers. Yet, on the verge of going home, he felt compelled to stay in the oh-so-quiet camp.

The words danced in his brain: "Give the message anyway." He imagined the trees as his audience and he preached his heart out. Then he sadly went home. He felt embarrassed and didn't tell anyone what happened.

Years later a man came up to the evangelist and stared at him. "You don't know me," he said, "but do you remember preaching in a forest a long time ago?"

"Why yes, but no-one was there."

"I was," the man said. "I was behind a tree and you didn't know. I was deeply moved by what you said. In fact I went home, knelt down and asked Jesus to be my Saviour. He changed my life."

We are like the evangelist, wanting to see results instantly, but God doesn't think as we do. Isaiah 55:8-9 says: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

We must be patient in what we do for God. If I could talk one-to-one with every Christian in the world I'd quote the following - God speaking - "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11). God doesn't say He will do it immediately.

Be assured that whatever we do in evangelism outside the church will bring results-though we may not witness them. Many don't understand that. So often, churches begin outreach and if they can't see results they give up. No, no, no.

Let's stop being instant coffee Christians and listen to what God says. Go out regularly with the message and leave the results to God. Occasionally He does allow us to see something happen. Here's a personal experience.

I put a Gospel of John booklet in a phone booth in our local shopping mall. I went away, and an hour later was across the street from the phone booth. A friend from our church was standing there witnessing to a young man. I stayed for a few minutes, then left.

Next day the friend related how the young man had turned around, and behind him was a bench. On the bench was the John's Gospel I had left across the road in the phone booth. The young man saw the booklet, picked it up and took it home.

Obviously, someone had taken the booklet from the phone booth, crossed the road, sat on the bench to read it, then left it. So God had used that booklet to sow seed in two people. He does indeed work in mysterious ways. Maybe He allowed me to know about it as encouragement. I'm sure there were lots of other instances I didn't know about.

We only have to be the messengers. God will do the rest.

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