by miss poppy
Sometimes God does things. Things you don't expect. Things you maybe pray for, but half-heartedly, thinking "Nah, that one's TOO hard" as if God has a hierarchy of difficulty level.
My family had the same doctor for many years. He was a non-practicing Jew who was very scientific and was not at all interested in our faith. Through our relationship with him, he found out that my father is a minister, and he was exposed to different aspects of our Christian lives (my involvement in church mission trips, extracurriculars, etc.). We invited him to many church events, but I don't believe he ever came. His family might have attended the live-animal Noah play one time. Even though he wasn't a practicing Jew, he seemed to have a very determined indifference to Christianity, almost as if he felt like it was part of his place in the world as a person of Jewish descent.
After several years of seeing him, the mounting costs of malpractice insurance in Florida became so overwhelming that he decided to leave private practice. We prepared to find a new doctor who accepted our insurance and assumed that the relationship was probably over.
But God...as they say
On one of my dad's last visits, our doctor told him one of the most unexpected stories I have ever heard. Another patient of his had invited him to a Lutheran church, and for some reason, he had decided to go. As a result of going there, he decided to accept Christ into his life.
You could have knocked me senseless with one finger after I heard that story.
What about all the years we went to him? What about all the invitations? What about the impregnable indifference to faith? What was it? What turned the tide?
You know what? I don't care. I have no idea what combination of things the Holy Spirit used. I just know he did a miracle in the life of someone I thought would never come to faith. It wasn't the kind of miracle that makes everyone marvel, but it was one of the most unbelievable things I have ever witnessed.
If you're praying for someone, don't give up. God works, and He doesn't get discouraged. No matter what.
Comments (15)
...How is it a miracle to persuade someone into doing something. o_O
Great post. I'm sure that all that you did to witness to him played a part in his decision to come to Christ! That's the thing....sometimes we never find out how our witness or example plays a part in someone coming to Christ, but God always knows, and we are a part of His plan for someone!
@lovechartreuse@xanga - If humans aren't the ones doing the persuading.
@ChrisRusso@xanga - And that is where the difference in perspective lies. You'll say that something divine happened to change his mind. I'll assume he had predispositions about the Christian faith that kept him away and then got cleared up and he felt more open to it, so open that he converted.
There, the disagreement in a nutshell.
Now to shower.
@lovechartreuse@xanga - It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experience it themselves. The best I can equate it to is... irresistible drawing, like gravity, in which coincidence and happenstance--random conversations, a song on the radio, the timing of a package's arrival, a paragraph in a book--all conspire in a way that you simply can't ignore anymore.
From the KJV
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Some plant, some water, but only ONE gives the increase :)
Hope
@ChrisRusso@xanga - People can experience all of that, and I have. (Stop assuming things, that's ridiculous.) Doesn't make a difference. =]
yeah i agree with chrisrusso
theres a difference between knowing ABOUT someone and really experiencing them.
I think that's a great story! Praise God!
I love stories like this... God is so faithful.
awe-inspiring.
People always talk about when they recieve Christ as their Savior and all that, they say they get this feeling or like what @lovechartreuse@xanga said, "It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experience it themselves. The best I can equate it to is... irresistible drawing, like gravity, in which coincidence and happenstance--random conversations, a song on the radio, the timing of a package's arrival, a paragraph in a book--all conspire in a way that you simply can't ignore anymore." --->saying stuff like this makes it sound like its magical.....makes it sound super fake
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Yes, i do admitt, when I got saved I did feel an uplifting feeling, but it was happiness. It was the truth that I knew i was gonna go to heaven when I died and that I had God in my life. I understood that He would not allow things that I could not handle happen...
ha, I would be VERY upset (yes, I realize how wrong this would be!)
People are motivated by different things. Maybe there was a girl there he was interested in. Maybe he really liked the friend that invited him. Who knows.
Wonderful!!!
Friendship evangelism is the best way to share true Christianity and to encourage others to want such. True Christians will have divine peace and even divine joy in times of severe challenges, and such is very influential.
@sassypants_18@xanga - You misquoted me, I didn't say that. Plus you have no idea what other people feel.