This is a blog about listening to what God has to say and then doing it. I always wanted to do more for God. I had this persistent, nagging feeling that what I was doing -- going to church, working in the nursery, shaking hands, smiling -- wasn't enough. There had to be something more.
Our preacher was teaching about this Scripture: "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:11-13. Here was the message: Ask God every day for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He will answer that prayer.
And so I asked. Gone were the specific requests, "Help me do this or that," or "Show me what you have in store for my life." I suppose the essence of it was just, "Lord, be with me!"
God answered that prayer. I found Him moving in my life in amazing ways. I felt him pulling me into work that He was doing, and as I was obedient, I felt my relationship with Him grow closer. In one case, his Spirit virtually forced me to drive around the block to help a woman whose car had stalled in the middle of a busy street. In another, God directed me to take my Bible to work and place it in plain sight. In another, God was dogged in pushing me to walk down the street to pray for a sick neighbor -- one whom I wasn't particularly close to.
That was the big one -- praying for someone. Letting God be the center of the conversation. And so I felt God's pull again. The idea popped into my head that I should talk about God to one person every day for a year. What a daunting task! Almost immediately, I placed my head against the wall and prayed for God to take the thought from me if it wasn't from Him. But He didn't remove it. The commission only became stronger.
About five days later, our preacher had another message. This one was from the story of Paul's conversion. God spoke to a guy named Ananias, telling him to visit Paul and help him. Ananias questioned those instructions. And God said, "Go!" (Acts 9:15) God had a purpose for Paul's life, and He wanted Ananias to help Paul get there.
So Ananias went. The take-home message was this: We've all been given a "go" commission from Jesus -- to make disciples of all nations. But then sometimes, God gives a little extra umph, something specific that fits into His plan. It's something that's pretty hard to ignore. That's a "Go!" commission.
That's what I had been given. So at the end of the sermon, I was standing in front of the congregation, committing myself to this effort. Like I said, it's a daunting mission. I've had no training in evangelism. I'm not a Bible expert. So much could go wrong. I could lose interest. I could fail. I could face rejection at every turn. I could lose courage. But then I hear again, "Go!" along with any number of scriptures reminding me that God is always with me and working things out for his purposes.
So I don't know exactly where this will go. But I pray daily for God to use me where he wants me. And so here is this blog, to document this journey.
