After performing a set of songs and puppetry at McDonald’s, I felt convicted to speak to an 8-year-old girl named Veronica who was sitting alone in the audience. After making brief small talk, I asked her if she went to church, to which she replied, “no.” I asked her if she knew who Jesus was, to which she replied, “no.” Little Veronica had no clue what the Bible was, nor of what sin is, nor of what prayer is. This caught me by complete surprise.
I had the opportunity to tell her about Jesus and what he did for her on the cross 2,000 years ago to save her from her sins. Her eyes sparkled in amazement as I told her of the love Jesus has for her.
She was flabbergasted as I told her how great our God is and that we can talk to God at any time and he listens to us. I proceeded to hold her fragile eager hands and led her through her very first prayer. After the “amen,” she thanked me, and our time together was up. It’s not likely that we will ever meet again in this lifetime, though during the time that our paths did cross, I was able to plant a seed within her heart that the Holy Spirit can use throughout her life.
I will admit that I haven’t taken every opportunity given to me to share Jesus with others that I should have. In fact, I’ve missed more than I’m proud to admit due to the fear of rejection, shame and timidity. However, I’ve learned that we as Christ-followers are not called to judge whether or not someone is “ready” to hear about God or “able to understand” what Jesus did for us. We are called to go and make disciples and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of those that we share with, no matter what we think their reaction might be.
When we are aware of the Holy Spirit and God’s power, we receive a heavenly wisdom and humble perspective that makes sharing with other’s less about how we “feel” and more about the One who died to set us free. Obeying the conviction of the Holy Spirit is very rarely comfortable, which makes it easy to do in theory, but very much more difficult to put into practice. We must die daily to ourselves and to the will of the flesh, and take every opportunity given to share with the people we’re called to love and minister to.
As humans, it’s dangerously tempting to get into a routine and adopt attitudes of entitlement with both our time and our beliefs, but it’s in the moments when we focus in solely on God that we gain a heavenly perspective that demands to be heard. I’ve had to learn that being a missionary requires such discomfort, and for me to hesitate from pursuing God’s call because I feel “awkward” is not living like Jesus, and from a heavenly perspective, is just not worth it. Living for Christ is a daily decision that we as Christians must make, stepping out in full faith in him with the confidence and joy that only he provides.
Elizabeth Collett, a student at Texas State University, is serving with a creative arts team in Orlando, Fla., through Go Now Missions.
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