For
the last few years God has really challenged me to look at my life from a
different perspective. This perception of life has required me to ask some
really difficult questions and to look deep within my heart and to see what
really lies behind the surface…
I
feel the only way I can illustrate the way God is changing my heart is by
telling this story:
feel the only way I can illustrate the way God is changing my heart is by
telling this story:
A
little over a week ago, I engaged in a conversation with a young man at the
shelter, a dialogue that started just like any other. Through broken English we
communicated about life, our interests, and our passions when shortly after… the
dialogue took a turn in a new direction. I asked the young man if he had ever
gone to church with Ingrid and He went on to reply that He went every Sunday. I
then asked him if he was a Christian and he said no, but he said he really
wanted to be one. I asked him what was stopping him and he went on to tell me
about what he had been taught about he thought he could become a Christian.
What he had been taught was so backwards and legalistic that it truly
frustrated me and I went on to explain to Him, along with my teammate Julie,
how a person could truly become a follower of Christ. We shared together and I
opened the Bible to John 3:16-17 and a smile rose over his face and his eyes completely
lit up. I knew right then and there that for first time in his life he
understood what Christ did for him and what it meant for his life to follow God
with everything in him. It saddened my heart that the church had done him such
a great disservice in explaining the gospel, but it brought joy to me to show
him the truth. That night after we shared together he decided to accept Christ
and to follow Him with His life. I look forward to growing in relationship with this young man in the following weeks.
little over a week ago, I engaged in a conversation with a young man at the
shelter, a dialogue that started just like any other. Through broken English we
communicated about life, our interests, and our passions when shortly after… the
dialogue took a turn in a new direction. I asked the young man if he had ever
gone to church with Ingrid and He went on to reply that He went every Sunday. I
then asked him if he was a Christian and he said no, but he said he really
wanted to be one. I asked him what was stopping him and he went on to tell me
about what he had been taught about he thought he could become a Christian.
What he had been taught was so backwards and legalistic that it truly
frustrated me and I went on to explain to Him, along with my teammate Julie,
how a person could truly become a follower of Christ. We shared together and I
opened the Bible to John 3:16-17 and a smile rose over his face and his eyes completely
lit up. I knew right then and there that for first time in his life he
understood what Christ did for him and what it meant for his life to follow God
with everything in him. It saddened my heart that the church had done him such
a great disservice in explaining the gospel, but it brought joy to me to show
him the truth. That night after we shared together he decided to accept Christ
and to follow Him with His life. I look forward to growing in relationship with this young man in the following weeks.
The
reason I told this story was not only to celebrate what God did that night, but
to highlight how God is changing my heart. I know that if I came all the way to
Cambodia just to impact one life, than it was all worth it. That if I raised
$14,300 and gave up 11 months of my life to see one person saved, than it was
all worth it. I know that if I sacrifice my whole life and everything I have to
see only one person TRULY LIVE, than it was all worth it. And If I died today,
so that God’s work on earth could be furthered even in the life of just ONE
person, then it was all worth it…
reason I told this story was not only to celebrate what God did that night, but
to highlight how God is changing my heart. I know that if I came all the way to
Cambodia just to impact one life, than it was all worth it. That if I raised
$14,300 and gave up 11 months of my life to see one person saved, than it was
all worth it. I know that if I sacrifice my whole life and everything I have to
see only one person TRULY LIVE, than it was all worth it. And If I died today,
so that God’s work on earth could be furthered even in the life of just ONE
person, then it was all worth it…
I’m
humbled by the very fact that God would want to use me in His amazing
redemption plan, and I am overjoyed to be His vessel. My life is in your hands
God, do what you will…
In
the words of Paul,
To
the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so
that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22)
In
His hands,
Ben
Gagne
Gagne
