By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
-John 13:35
I had an excellent oppurtunity today to share the Gospel. My Mom, myself, and an adult friend had an outing this afternoon to a cafe for lunch. I took my seat between the two adults as they started up a conversation.
Straight accross from me sat an empty booth. Five minutes later, a man came and sat by himself.
Normally, anyone seeing him would probably have left him alone. He was rough looking, and was probably fit with an attitude to match the look. My gut wrenched. I suddenly felt like crying, compassion sweeping over me for this man. The conversation continued lightly between the two adults, Mom laughed. I bit my lip.
He rested his elbows on the table, fingers latched together in thought as he stared out the window. His lunch came, so did ours. It was tough getting through lunch as I watched him. The adults had finished theirs, we all got up. We made it all the way outside, when I told Mom a had a feeling I was suppose to tell the man God loves him. She said "Okay..." and we walked back inside. The adults stayed at the front of the cafe, striking up a conversation with a waitress.
I took a breath and walked to the back of the cafe...all the way back to that corner booth. The man looked up at me as I stood in front of him. I pulled out the empty chair from his table. What are you doing?! screamed through my mind. To be honest, I had no idea.
I sat. "I know this is very weird, and very random. But I believe God told me to--" I paused. "to tell you that He loves you." I finished on a confident note. I waited as he sat slowly back in his chair and stared with dark eyes, straight into mine. (Uh oh.)
"I know that." His voice was exactly how anyone would imagine it, coming from him. It fit his rough look.
"Do you?" I didn't blink. He didn't either. To be honest, his answer really surprised me, but I stood firm. There was a reason why God told me to do this, and even if I didn't understand why, I knew I had to finish it for Him to touch this man. He gave a half nod. "You're born-again?" he asked.
Hey! I should be asking you that! I thought. "Yes'sir, I am." I answered with a voice that I didn't expect.
I was really bold and confident sounding.
"Yea, my ex-wife is too." Oh. This'll be interesting. He continued to talk about her and all the other 'christians' that had dumped on him about their religion and all the weird things they shoved down his throat. I listened patiently, but finally confronted him, making it known I wasn't a fruitcake like them. [How could I say that when I just sat at his table out of no where??]
I said a few words, the message being "My God's alive". I asked if I could hug him. I felt crazy. "You're weird. This is out of no where." He said bluntly. I laughed.
"I know." I smiled. I continued to tell him my testimony, and how a man out of nowhere asked us to church. "Talk about weird and random." I finished. "But because of that weird and random man, I found Jesus. I found His healing touch, and I've avoided so many major surgeries on my spine, heart, legs..." I saw doubt in his eyes. Obviously the 'christians' he's encountered had left a bad taste in his mouth for God.
"Listen. God loves you anyway. He wants to connect with you, because He loves you." I was as blunt as he was. I caught a flash in his eyes, I think he blinked away a tear. Anyway, they certainly softened.
There was silence. We kept each other's gaze, I wouldn't let him go that easily.
"You're really nice." He said with a note of interest. He pushed the table away a little and stood up. I followed suit and stood too. He actually faced me, and lifted his arms uneasily. Perfect! I hugged him.
We broke the hug, he stepped away and nodded. I said something along the lines of "Have a nice day."
He replied with a decently happy "you too" and we went seperate ways.
All of the tables surrounding us were filled. Looking back at that, I realize that was a huge witness to every one of those people. I wasn't speaking softly. : ) As Christians, we are always On Air.
Everyone is watching us: how will we represent our God? Everything we do is a reflection on Him. Just like children are to their parents. If the child is misbehaving, that usually reflects bad parenting. What we do shows people who He is.
If we show love and compassion and patience, they will know God to be the same. If we shove things down their throats--who wants a god that's bossy?
I have other stories like this one. For encouragement and to read these stories, either connect with me on my personal Facebook, or Like our page! Links to both FBs can be found on the front page. If you don't have Facebook, or prefer e-mail, you can reach me through the "Contact" tab.
Be encouraged everyone! Go shine that Light!!
-Kiana ♥ : )
-John 13:35
I had an excellent oppurtunity today to share the Gospel. My Mom, myself, and an adult friend had an outing this afternoon to a cafe for lunch. I took my seat between the two adults as they started up a conversation.
Straight accross from me sat an empty booth. Five minutes later, a man came and sat by himself.
Normally, anyone seeing him would probably have left him alone. He was rough looking, and was probably fit with an attitude to match the look. My gut wrenched. I suddenly felt like crying, compassion sweeping over me for this man. The conversation continued lightly between the two adults, Mom laughed. I bit my lip.
He rested his elbows on the table, fingers latched together in thought as he stared out the window. His lunch came, so did ours. It was tough getting through lunch as I watched him. The adults had finished theirs, we all got up. We made it all the way outside, when I told Mom a had a feeling I was suppose to tell the man God loves him. She said "Okay..." and we walked back inside. The adults stayed at the front of the cafe, striking up a conversation with a waitress.
I took a breath and walked to the back of the cafe...all the way back to that corner booth. The man looked up at me as I stood in front of him. I pulled out the empty chair from his table. What are you doing?! screamed through my mind. To be honest, I had no idea.
I sat. "I know this is very weird, and very random. But I believe God told me to--" I paused. "to tell you that He loves you." I finished on a confident note. I waited as he sat slowly back in his chair and stared with dark eyes, straight into mine. (Uh oh.)
"I know that." His voice was exactly how anyone would imagine it, coming from him. It fit his rough look.
"Do you?" I didn't blink. He didn't either. To be honest, his answer really surprised me, but I stood firm. There was a reason why God told me to do this, and even if I didn't understand why, I knew I had to finish it for Him to touch this man. He gave a half nod. "You're born-again?" he asked.
Hey! I should be asking you that! I thought. "Yes'sir, I am." I answered with a voice that I didn't expect.
I was really bold and confident sounding.
"Yea, my ex-wife is too." Oh. This'll be interesting. He continued to talk about her and all the other 'christians' that had dumped on him about their religion and all the weird things they shoved down his throat. I listened patiently, but finally confronted him, making it known I wasn't a fruitcake like them. [How could I say that when I just sat at his table out of no where??]
I said a few words, the message being "My God's alive". I asked if I could hug him. I felt crazy. "You're weird. This is out of no where." He said bluntly. I laughed.
"I know." I smiled. I continued to tell him my testimony, and how a man out of nowhere asked us to church. "Talk about weird and random." I finished. "But because of that weird and random man, I found Jesus. I found His healing touch, and I've avoided so many major surgeries on my spine, heart, legs..." I saw doubt in his eyes. Obviously the 'christians' he's encountered had left a bad taste in his mouth for God.
"Listen. God loves you anyway. He wants to connect with you, because He loves you." I was as blunt as he was. I caught a flash in his eyes, I think he blinked away a tear. Anyway, they certainly softened.
There was silence. We kept each other's gaze, I wouldn't let him go that easily.
"You're really nice." He said with a note of interest. He pushed the table away a little and stood up. I followed suit and stood too. He actually faced me, and lifted his arms uneasily. Perfect! I hugged him.
We broke the hug, he stepped away and nodded. I said something along the lines of "Have a nice day."
He replied with a decently happy "you too" and we went seperate ways.
All of the tables surrounding us were filled. Looking back at that, I realize that was a huge witness to every one of those people. I wasn't speaking softly. : ) As Christians, we are always On Air.
Everyone is watching us: how will we represent our God? Everything we do is a reflection on Him. Just like children are to their parents. If the child is misbehaving, that usually reflects bad parenting. What we do shows people who He is.
If we show love and compassion and patience, they will know God to be the same. If we shove things down their throats--who wants a god that's bossy?
I have other stories like this one. For encouragement and to read these stories, either connect with me on my personal Facebook, or Like our page! Links to both FBs can be found on the front page. If you don't have Facebook, or prefer e-mail, you can reach me through the "Contact" tab.
Be encouraged everyone! Go shine that Light!!
-Kiana ♥ : )
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