Hi from Romania !!!
So, the first Starbucks opened a few weeks ago in the city that I am living in, Craiova, and I thought, what better way to show my American white girl side than to order a nice soy Chai Tea Latte and update all my friends and fam back in America… So here we go.
One of our ministry days involved going to a park where we were given the task of asking people about their beliefs on the world. We asked them questions such as how they felt the world was created, their view on (or if) they believe in a God and so forth, then getting to share why we believe what we believe.
(And side not – thankfully most of the people I talked to were pretty open to talking about their beliefs… Even if their beliefs were completely different than mine. I admired that about the people here, that they weren’t closed off the moment I said something different than what they believe).
After talking to several people about their beliefs, which most here are Orthodox (which is a religion I can talk about in another blog), I came across two women sitting on a bench. As I was walking towards them, I was talking to Jesus, asking Him if these were people He wanted me to talk to. I felt a pull in my heart over and over again whispering “yes”. “Ahhh ok Jesus… If you say so”… I wanted to resist His pull because honestly, you can have some awko taco moments talking to people about beliefs and all that jazz… But hey when The Lord calls you to share The Gospel with the world – He really means it…. Even if it means talking to strangers in a park.
So there I found myself walking up to these women, asking if they could share their beliefs with me (thankfully, they spoke English) – which they warmly invited me to sit down with them and share more of mine as well. The woman on my right said she believed there was a god, but that god isn’t really involved in the world or with his people. The other woman, on my left, said she was an Atheist, that she didn’t believe there was a god. As they talked, The Lord kept pressing on me to share my story with them and how we can have a relationship with God, so I did – praying that these women would see how real our God.
Now – the coolest way to end this blog would be for me to say “Wahoo, and these two women I met in a park accepted Jesus and all was well, praises & hallelujah” and dang, would that be awesome, and that was something I was praying for both of them… But The Lord reminded me that sometimes I am just one small part of someone’s story in finding Him – that seeds were planted and I might not get the results I want to see in that instant… But these two girls are people that have been on my mind since I left that bench in the park – two people that I pray would talk to someone else in this world that plants even more seeds about God– where they would eventually see that He is as real in our lives as He is in there’s.
All that being said, what I wanted to share in this blog – is that through these two unbelievers, God taught me something.
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11… One of the wisest, and personally favorite, books in The Bible, I mean it’s all wise but you know what I mean)
After walking away that day from those two women – God reminded me of that verse. And although we normally use this for Christians who have eternity with God, it clicked in me, that those two women I had just spoken to have a desire of eternity with God too… And they aren’t even aware of it.
The moment a person is born, God has created him or her in the image of Himself with a longing in their heart for eternity with Him – and then God gives each and every person the decision to freely believe in Him. So, whether you believe in God or not, every single person on this earth has characteristics of Him with a heart set on eternity with Him. Those two women have Jesus in them, and their hearts will always be longing for something more.
That’s why nothing in this world can satisfy us…
Not money
Not a job
Not acceptance
Not popularity
Not a big house
Not the “perfect body”
Not a significant other
Not even “being a good person” can satisfy us
And the enemy loves to deceive us by making us believe all of those will – but eventually, all of those will never be enough… Not because having those things is a bad thing, but because they are missing the One who brings them true life in all of it.
Jesus has set eternity in each person’s heart… The longing and realization that there is something more about the life that we are living in this world… That being born, doing good things, and then dying can’t really be all there is to this life…
And I remember asking myself that question before I believed in God – that there must be more to this life.
There always was more…
There was God.
God made you and me and those two women for a relationship with Him,
That’s why nothing else works.
And I could’ve kicked and screamed in disagreement all my life when people told me Jesus was what I was searching for, but one day I decided these crazy Jesus loving people might actually be right… So I gave Jesus a try and He changed everything in my life – for the absolute better.
Jesus had set eternity in my heart since the day He created me, and I didn’t know it or, mainly, didn’t want to believe it for the first 15 years of my life.
Jesus has set eternity in those women’s hearts, and they don’t even know it…But I’m praying everyday that they do.
And side note number 2; Jesus has set eternity in your heart too… And maybe you know it, but maybe you don’t though – but if that’s you I’m praying hard that you would give Jesus a try – Not just because I’m saying it or friends or family are saying it, but because you want to taste real life… That maybe the thing you are searching for to give you life and joy is actually God Himself…
So, long story short… No, – the women I met at the park didn’t “accept” Christ that day – and although I was deeply praying they would (and I really do believe they will as more seeds are planted) – God has given me the reminder that each person on this earth is walking with a heart that is set on eternity with Him –
Even if they don’t realize it
Even if they don’t want to believe it
Even if it scares them
Even if they are fighting it
Even If they have no feelings towards it
It’s there, the desire for “something more”… The desire for God is deeply engraved in our hearts.
Thanks to a God for creating us with a heart that was made to find and experience the realest joy, peace, comfort, and love in Him… And Him alone.
And for loving me when I fought against that…
Thank you, Jesus… For teaching me that simple truth through two unbelievers.
