As the pastor of the church was winding up the bible study he noticed a young guy standing near watching. He was then invited to come sit with us. The guy introduced himself as Felix and said that he was walking by and noticed the church. As the pastor concluded and summarized faith to Felix then something happened that I don't think any of us expected. As I figured the night was over, Felix "got real" and told us that he seemed to have lost his faith. As he began asking questions about how he is supposed to have faith in a God that day by day allows him to go through overwhelming hardships? He said that any opportunity that comes his way turns to "shit" (excuse my language, just quoting) and never works out. He has a family that neglects him. He doesn't belong anywhere he seems to live. He has insomnia and can't sleep for more than an hour a night. He prays to God and nothing ever changes. He has tried to take his life numerous times and for some reason he is still alive. He has read the bible from Genesis to Revelation and says he knows it. Today he even quit his job at a pharmacy. He was actually on his way back to his house after talking to his friend about how much harship he is facing right now.
This is when he stumbled upon our bible study.
Last night our team sat down to study the book of James in the bible and I brought up the idea of having a "bible doing." Instead of sitting around and talking about the book, let's do something about it. Not just "talk the talk but walk the walk." I know I at least left the night excited to apply these things to life here and now!
As our new friend Felix was being completely real, raw, and vulnerable about his life the first thing that came to mind was the book of James Chapter 1, exactly what we studied last night. As I was reading over it our friend Dennis wanted to encourage him with a word from God and to my surprise he read from the book of James-chapter 1. Wow!…. Afterwards Brant had a word of encouragment for Felix and told him about James on our team and how he has a relatable story. So here comes James–in the perfect place at the perfect time to share some of his testimony that I am sure spoke greatly to his heart.
As the night grew deeper and darker I just kept praising God. There is no doubt in my mind that our team argued for about 20 minutes about which book to study (which ended up being the book of James), that we went to this bible study later than expected where Laura talked about faith, that Felix went to his friends house this same day to stumble upon the church where he told us he now had lost faith and that I was also studying this morning about the faith and crazy trails Job (in the bible) had and how God is sovereign through the good and bad whether we understand them or not!
Aghhhh! My mind is blown! This wasn't just a bible study we had the night before about the book of James, but a bible doing. We were supposed to meet Felix tonight and everything was in line perfectly the way it was intended. He is so good. I don't even know Felix yet but I love him. And to think that me, a human loves a guy I don't even know so much, the creator of the universe must have a fire burning inside of him for this man!! His love never gets boring but it reminds me of his goodness always!
We are supposed to hangout with Fellix on Sunday so I just pray that it be a good time to get to know him and that somehow his heart just starts transforming because God is already doing incredible work in him whether he wants to believe it or not.
Please be praying for Felix for he has lost hope and desires peace and hope.
