“Why are you even having this conversation….it’s a waste of time,” the brunette girl said to the curious man from Argentina. “Most people stay away from talking about this, you know?”
“Yeah, but these girls…when they introduced themselves to me it was like something was different, I just don’t understand.” “I have a lot of questions about God and want to know more,” the curious man said.
As I sat there listening to this, I realized God was answering my prayer right before my eyes.
Wow, my prayer was simple.
Literally, I asked Jesus to show up. Show up and provide good conversations with new people at the hostel we are staying at before our last month on the race.
But this simple prayer was answered by a Sovereign God.
Let me set the scene… It was natural, my friend Jess and I were hanging out in the community room and a conversation with the people around us just began.
I’m not sure how the conversation really started, but a man who was curious about mankind and our purpose in life, felt comfortable asking Jess and I really hard questions about God.
Questions about creation, Jesus, religion, Heaven, mankind, sin, etc.
The questions went all over the board, and it wasn’t just from him but from the other people in the room too.
I found myself sitting in conversation with a girl who was an atheist, a man who was a pantheist, and a curious man who claimed to be a “nudist” (also don’t worry he was wearing clothes when he talked with us all) asking questions about God.
“So is God like google?” “ You ask him for advice and help with life and then he tells you what is right and wrong and what to do with your life,” the curious man asked.
I had to think of how to respond to this for a moment. I’ve never gotten a question like this one before.
“I know it might sound crazy or hard to fully understand but Jesus. He’s God’s son, He loves you so much that He died on a cross for you. Why?? to take on our sin and rise again signifying He defeated our sin so that we can have a right relationship with God,” I replied.
“A relationship with God doesn’t mean I just ask him questions about what to do with my life and I get answers, it’s so much more than that.” Then began to share my story of how I chose to follow Jesus in my life when I was 18 and now what my relationship with God looks like.
He pondered on the words spoken, and had more questions.
Jess and I valued his questions. It made sense that his questions were challenging. It’s hard to describe faith. It’s hard to describe Jesus when tangibly I can’t see him, but I know He is with me. It sounds crazy.
But I told him, “to be honest, I don’t have the answers to everything.”
“There are still things about God that I will never fully understand here on this earth,”
BUT
One thing I know for sure is that I asked Jesus to personally show up in my life and time after time He has.
I glanced over and realized that this whole time, a man was listening in from the corner of another room. After our conversation came to a close, I ended up talking with the man afterwards and asked if he had heard our conversation or had known God.
He looked at me and paused… “why yes, I wouldn’t mind talking about God.” The view he had of God was only negative and for the majority of his conversation, he stated his beliefs in an UFO world instead.
But, after all of these conversations, I praised God.
Why? Because, Jesus is the one that gets the glory. Jesus was made known to a various group of people. It’s a choice to follow Jesus and it’s my prayer that these people searching for something find Jesus.
…………
The following morning, a man working at the hostel saw me reading my Bible and asked about it. He had a lot of questions and had a heart that searching for answers.
Instead of finding all the answers, He found Jesus. That day he rededicated his life to Jesus.
Oh what prayers can do….
Y’all, my heart burdens for those that have questions and are searching for purpose in this life. Searching for a reason to live, a purpose in this life, or a reason to “be the change” that the world needs to see and my hope and prayers is that they…
maybe you
reading this post find that in the searching you come to realize you’ve been sought after by Jesus.
Cause, I was there.
I was searching for my own satisfaction.
I was searching for peace in my soul.
I was searching for a refuge when life crashed down on me.
I was searching for someone to guide me.
I was searching for what my calling in life was.
I was searching for love.
And I found it all in Jesus, but truth is…He’s someone I didn’t have to search for, because He’s always sought after me.
Are you searching for answers in life?
Are you searching for answers from God or are you searching to know God because of His love for you?
(If you seek God you will ALWAYS find him. Jeremiah 29:13)
