Last night was the final session of "Experiencing God" by Henry and Richard Blackaby. I was blessed to participate in this with my wife, as well as our pastor and two brothers from our church. A foundational principle of the study is to watch for where God is at work, and then join Him there.
This study has equipped me in a way I never expected. I knew, in theory, that God is at work at all times. But I didn't know it. Now I have testimonies about it.
First, there is our church and its praise team. After a fire at our church's building that damaged the HVAC units, membership declined during a particularly harsh winter when we needed to use blankets and space heaters during our services. Compounding that, our pianist was in a bad car accident, injuring her arms, and our guitar player took a job in ministry at another church. We (the Praise Team) did the best we could, and fortunately the members that remained were very forgiving and have their priorities in order.
For at least two years, I tried to figure out how to get a guitarist or pianist. I came up with mediocre plans, wracking my brain trying to think of people I knew and how to get them into our church.
Second, there is a friend from work. He is a Christian, raised in a Christian home, but hadn't been living the life. God recently woke him up and drew him back to Himself. We call it his "spiritual awakening". And he happens to live somewhat close to our church. Whenever I meet people who need a church, they tend to live on the other side of town. Finally, I met someone who could go to our church, and do we need members! One catch, his wife doesn't know Christ. Coming to our (or any) church would cause unrest in his house. For months, I tried coming up with some way to "trick" her into meeting us and my pastor, sort of sneak Christ into her life without her noticing.
Third, I became friends with a consultant on assignment where I work and discovered he is a Christian. But due to work forcing him to move every six months or so, he doesn't have a church. He doesn't even have a car to get him to my church while he's here, and getting him a ride isn't really feasible.
And finally there is another person from work who was here for a year. He isn't a believer, and calls himself "spiritual but not religious". Over the course of the year, we became good friends and had many conversations, some of them about spiritual matters. I made it clear that I am a Christian, and he always listened.
Then we started our study of Experiencing God. Suddenly, I saw things differently. I needed to look for where God was at work, and join Him there, not try to come up with a scheme to get people into my church because we need members and musicians. For my two Christian brothers at work, I could see they were thirsty for God. As I learned more from our study and from weekly Sunday school, something always seemed to apply to what was going on in their lives. I started to see my role as providing fellowship and encouragement, what they would get if they could attend a church.
As the weeks went on, the one who lives locally talked about really wanting his wife to come to Jesus, but just unsure what he should do about it. I could tell him to watch for God working on her. And to love her. We are to love our wives like Christ loved the Church. Don't create turmoil at home. Love her, let God do the work.
Then he told me about some of the comments she was making, some of the questions she was asking. I told my friend that Experiencing God said that her anxiety about this stuff could be a sign that God was at work. He should support her, and love her, but don't short-circuit what God could be doing. Watch, answer her questions, let her work through this. And always - love her.
This part of the story is not over yet. She has not accepted Christ yet, or even acknowledged that she might need Him, but she seems to be on that path. It is exciting!
I saw God at work in my friend, joined God there. God had me teach my friend to watch for where God was at work on his wife, and join God there. This is not my plan, not my actions. This is God. I'm just available to be used, and watching for where I can be privileged to join Him.
Consultant friend has returned home, and gone off to the next assignment. He tells me he misses our conversations. So do I. Is God at work here? Maybe we can find a way to continue the "guys who can't go to church" ministry somehow. We're going to try a small-group study with the other guy from work, and one other brother, and connect via Skype. Remote small-group studies! We start next week.
Away from work, our praise team had a real need. The guy who has been "filling in" on guitar for the last three years is on best rest for a few weeks. Oh my. Well, there just happens to be a friend from Boy Scouts who plays guitar and whose family really needs a church and Jesus. He's one of the people I've been trying to figure out how to get to play with us. I did not come up with anything. Our pastor just happens to mention to him that our guitarist is out of commission, and voila, he is filling in for him, and he brings his family! And they loved coming to our church! I tried and tried, and God just took care of it. And there is another fellow from Boy Scouts who is very close to accepting Jesus, who just happened to mention to the pastor that he can operate a sound board, on the day after I was lamenting to someone else that we really needed someone to operate the sound board!
These two gentlemen need to hear the Gospel, and God just gave them reasons unique to each of them to be in church! All I did was say yes, welcome them, and thank them profusely for helping us. God has met the needs of all of us.
Finally, there is the friend who is "spiritual but not religious". He learned suddenly that his assignment ended at the end of last year. We set up a last minute lunch before he's gone. During lunch, he is making comments that show that he is searching for God. He doesn't say it that way, but Experiencing God taught me to recognize it. But I don't have weeks or months to continue to work with him, he's leaving the next day. He's going to go home and hear all kinds of things. I need to act now to make sure that the truth of Christ is at least in the mix, at least is available. God leads me to offer my friend a tract, just so it gets into his suitcase. We don't go through it together, but end up talking for 45 minutes. He is asking all of the right questions, and God is giving me the answers.
And that was it. I may never know if he accepts Christ. But I do know he might. God used me to plant some seeds, and even to water them. I pray that they will grow and produce fruit. Regardless, I was blessed to be involved in God's work. He showed me where he was working, and allowed me to join Him there. I know my friend sees me as a blessing in his life, because he said so. I pray that he saw a glimpse of Christ through me, and that others will get the chance to water the seeds.
Four lives that God has touched, which He gave me the privilege of joining in. Now I am watching everywhere, and I know what to look for, which gives me the confidence to respond boldly. What a joy!
