“There are three things I want us to notice about this story.” I had just finished reading the story of Jesus healing a paralytic in John 5, my go to story when the ministry host says, “And one of you will be preaching.” I had shared this sermon in church the week before and was using it again in a hospital waiting room in the week before Christmas. My team was doing hospital evangelism, something that was difficult for many of us to swallow. Yet there I was, sharing how Jesus is capable to heal our bodies, but is more interested in healing our souls.
After I was finished, the pastor we were working with would launch into an altar call, inviting people to give their lives to Christ, urging them that this message was important. As he spoke, my eyes landed on one of the men in the crowd. While everyone else was listening to the pastor with full attention, this man’s face showed zero interest in anything. He stared at the floor without any emotions in his eyes. Even know, two months later, my heart still feels heavy as I remember his face, as I remember the complete and total apathy that had settled over him as we spoke about the most important part of our lives—the fact that Jesus heals our souls and sets them right.
And yet, I think my heart probably mirrored the man’s face more than I let on.
My team and I had been struggling with our ministry all month. We had been approached by countless drunk men, handed out hundreds of invitations to church with absolutely no results, and our living situation was less than ideal. So when we walked into the hospital that morning, my attitude about the ministry we were doing was anything but optimistic. As Pastor Brian called for people to give their lives to Christ, I was actually thinking that not one person that raised their hand truly knew who Jesus was, nor were they ready to accept him as their Lord. I was so stuck in what I thought was the right kind of ministry and way to do evangelism that I had completely written off the chances of Christ moving in the lives of the people in the hospital that day.
I’ve learned a lot about ministry since that day. I’ve learned that sometimes it doesn’t go the way I want it to, sometimes we don’t get the results we were hoping for, and sometimes I don’t agree with the method. But I’ve also learned that not one of those reasons has any effect on the way that God can move. He can call people to himself with the ramblings of an unprepared world racer just as much as he can with a personal, mentoring relationship among his people. His activities know no bounds, and I am foolish to limit them with my own thinking. He cares for each one of those people that raised their hands, and he cares for each of the people that didn’t. He’s chasing after hearts, and I have the honor of standing in the process.
I ended up preaching five times that day, sharing the message that Jesus wants to heal our hearts, and that he’s extending the invitation to each one of us. While I didn’t feel it that day, I’m trusting that people who heard that message have come to understand the Healer, the Savior, and the Friend that is Jesus. And I’m praying that maybe that man whose face matched what I was feeling in my heart actually heard what we said to him that day. I’m praying that his life has since changed because he encountered Jesus. Because our God is capable of changing lives even when we’ve completely given up. And that alone is worthy of praise.
For our adventure day, we were able to go explore Victoria Falls, and I had the incredible privilege of baptizing my sweet friend Liz. I wanted to upload some pictures, but the wifi won’t allow it.
I’m also so close to being fully funded! I only need $174!
