Someone at church recently said she was discouraged for me after reading a few of my blog posts recently. Some people have told me “no,” that they weren’t interested in what I had to say. I thought it was very kind of her to say what she said. She certainly didn’t have to, and most people don’t. I think it speaks to her loving heart.
I’ve thought about it a lot since then, however, and I’m not discouraged. When I started this, I thought I might become that way if my message was rejected over and over again. How could someone keep that up?
But that’s proved not to be the case. Instead, I feel blessed. I believe God has given me something to do. I like to call it my “go” commission, and I believe one of three things are happening (or maybe a combination of them). The first may be that not a single person responds positively, in their hearts, to God’s message. God instead may be sending me out to talk to people, and his plan is to build something in me, maybe some element of courage or just a greater understanding of what obedience really is.
The second may be that I am doing all of this in order to reach a single person, or maybe just a couple of people. I don’t know who they are, and I may not meet them until the very last day. So perhaps all of this that I have been doing is preparation for that one moment where God wants me to touch someone in a positive way for him.
The third possibility may be that every single person I talk to was put in front of me for a purpose. Maybe God wants them to have a cut-and-dried opportunity to respond to Him, and I’m the person to present the message. Some of them may say “yes,” and some may say “no.” But God is giving them a chance to respond.
I like to think that this is what’s happening with this project – that every person I meet is there at just the right time, and that they will take a moment to say “yes” or “no” in their hearts. And so in that sense, I can’t be disappointed when someone tells me “no” to an offer to pray for him. It’s not really important what they say to my question. It doesn’t matter what they think of me. What’s important is what they say in that quiet moment later, when they consider who God is and what He has done for them. That’s the moment that matters, the one that has eternal consequences.
So I can rejoice no matter what someone says to me. It’s important for me just to be obedient.
On that note, I got a “no” tonight. I saw the guy trying to time out a quick dash across a busy street. He was wearing a suit shirt and slacks, looking like he’d just shed the tie and coat for the evening. I was nearing the street when he made a break for it, picking his moment during a lull in traffic. It wasn’t what you’d call a graceful jog. He was a tall guy and his limbs seemed to extend in every which direction as they propelled him forward.
But he made it, reaching the curb and then the sidewalk. I stopped him then and asked him my question. He was about 60, with an executive air to him. He had dark hair but with growing amounts of gray on either side of his head. He didn’t take but a second to consider my request, and then he put his hand up toward my face and started moving away. “No,” he said. “No thanks.” There wasn’t anything mean-spirited in his voice. He just didn’t want to have anything to do with me.
All I could do was walk away. But I prayed for him anyway.
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