Posted: 11/20/07

Knowing Changes Everything

OK, I admit it. I did NOT want to talk to anyone. I was at a play center with my son to let him play for a couple hours as it was too cold outside and his little 6 year old body needed to EXERT. But I wasn't feeling that great. I had tried to climb through the 5 story kid tunnels to play with him but for the first time being there I was exhausted after just a little while. And boy was that depressing.

I am 45 years old and I was feeling it. I've never been so out of shape in my life and I wasn't happy about it. So what do you think would happen just then?

This place is for children to play safely and hosts birthday parties. It's a great play land and not too expensive either. They provide a much needed daycare and day camp facility for those with tough schedules and little ones that need caring for. I like it and Ryan negotiates a day there whenever he can't play outside.

But this play land is completely designed for children; there is no facility for the parents. I've suggested it would be wise to provide something for the parents to do other than sit on the chairs and eat from the snack bar. Maybe a free or inexpensive wireless access point so the moms and dads can do something other than stare at the floor and get fat while they get backs aches from the metal folding chairs. But, so far, the suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.

I was lamenting my lousy physical shape as I was leaning on the snack bar counter drinking lemonade when the Spirit prodded me to speak to a young man standing there with a camp shirt on. I admit I was tired, upset and achy from having gotten stuck in one of the tubes TRYING to play with my son. I did NOT want to talk to anyone.

So I was thinking, "Oh great. Lord, this teenager is going to deride me right in front of everyone. He's going to roll his eyes at me and mock me with something like 'Oh you're one of those that believes Noah and the Ark was REAL aren't you? And then everyone is going to join right in! I'll be so embarrassed I'll never be able to come back there ever again… and.... and… oh… brother."

Darkness is everywhere and I know this. Whenever I realize I am being prodded by the Spirit to speak I also know the enemy is trying to distract me. Satan's ways are depression, anger, and fear, among others. I've learned to see through the ploys of the devil and I could see what he was doing right then too. I had fallen for some of the oldest tricks in the book, and thankfully the Spirit had gotten my attention and a young man heard the Gospel Truth. I was never so grateful to be taken up short.

So, here's the point: Our battle is spiritual. We are in a death struggle for souls every day. To keep that in mind is to make yourself ready for such moments as these, times when you are just disgusted and beat and want no more to speak than to just run. These then will be the instances we can look forward to as a result of such expectation. Knowing changes everything.

Now, I am not saying it won't make you angry when you get snookered by the Devil's ploys, but it will make it easier to know you certainly will. And knowing that you will, ahead of time, will enable you to take that deep breath, grin over your silliness and speak the truth to that person Jesus wants to deliver anyway. It will be to God's honor that you expect such times and are ready for them.

That young man heard the truth, maybe for the first time, because God had made sure I learned how to preach the Gospel so His Grace is amazing to every sinner I tell it to. And I was grateful Jesus had prepared me to know how to fight the battle when it came.

You can do that.
Seek the lost while you still can.

Patrick J Burwell / OnlyJesusSaves.com 

By Patrick Burwell Click here for bio and archived articles