24. VERY Hard Case!
I must admit, I feel a very deep sense of “pain and sadness” when people say they are not interested in Jesus. I take that to heart, and it hurts because I know how absolutely, wonderful Jesus is. Additionally, I know the consequences related to rejecting the Gospel. The danger is so very real and the stakes are so incredibly high. I hope you can feel it all the time. I want you to feel it! Are you ok with saying nothing? That just doesn’t work for me.
It is true that 150,000 die every day. Four of my friends died in a drowning accident—at the time we were all 22 years old. One was my very best friend. I still think of Gary often and he died in October 1974—a few days after I got out of the Army. My father died in my arms of a heart attack in 1985. Dad was 62. He was my best friend in the world. Life can end suddenly. So yeah, I get that that death is real, and nothing can be done if someone rejects Christ and passes on into eternity.
Many people say, God is loving and so when a person dies, a loving God will give them one more chance. The Bible says that God cannot lie. And the Bible makes it clear that there is death (the end), followed by the judgment. Sorry, God can’t lie and thereby change His mind. Why would the God who comes to you in many ways, only to be rejected for a lifetime (He gave His only Son for you!), now change His mind after all of your rebellion? Not going to happen.
My best friend is a pastor/counselor, and he has noted that I am both a hypersensitive and hyperreflective man. Well, I’ll try not to take that personally, and I promise not to overthink it. Ha! Ha! It is very nice to get free therapy when we meet, and Brad is also the chair of Life Change board. We meet almost every week. I try to help him out with mundane things like real estate, occasional construction work, and advice … both kinds: solicited and unsolicited.
On with the story. Late one evening, I went into a store to return some unused construction items. I’d talked with June previously on several occasions during the checkout process. In each encounter, she was delightful. I thought June might actually be a Christian. Well, I asked her if she would like a tract about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. She said she had no interest. I thought, oh no, that can’t really be true!
As a result, I switched the conversation back to a basic friendship conversation. I asked her where she grew up. She said she grew up in the San Fernando Valley in CA and came to Indianapolis for a job at the Children’s Museum. Her husband was from Fort Wayne, Indiana, so it was an easy move. Her family currently was scattered around Indiana, but she missed the California weather.
I still felt compelled by the Spirit to push a little harder (very rare for me!). She said no, I’m not really interested. So, I asked if she would give the tract to a friend who might be interested. She smiled and agreed that she would do that. As I walked into the store, I glanced back and noticed that she was carefully reading the tract. My heart rate headed back to normal because I put a small stone in her shoe! Or as the word of God labels it…I planted a seed. That is the business we are in—the seed business.
I do praise God for those little cracks in the wall of rejection! Even if it represents a tiny little break in the ice, God had June’s attention. The next tool in the tool chest is prayer. My prayers involve asking the Lord to “Open the eyes of her heart.” I hope and pray that there are more opportunities that will come out over time.
When things don’t go well, it might be good to remember one of my life verses.
2 Timothy 2:13 NIV “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”