If he knows the number of hairs on my head, oh, how he puts together the finest details of our lives to his glory. This is what happened tonight; and I sit back in awe of the God I’m not worthy to serve.
Though I’m not helping with VBS this week at our church, I was asked to come by, if I could, by my sweet pastor. He didn’t want my help with the kids, but to talk to a woman he’s been sharing with for the past couple of weeks. He and his wife have spent hours sharing the gospel with this dear lady, and he wanted a “third party” to talk with her to confirm where she stood with the Lord.
When I was introduced, she told me she was so amazed at the people she’d come to know. Once we moved to a quiet room, I asked her, “do you know why you like these people so much?” She nodded and smiled. I told her, “it’s because they have Jesus in their hearts.” She said, “yes, I know.”
“Do you have Jesus in your heart?”
“I do,” she replied.
“Did you ask him to be your Lord and Savior?”
“I did,” she replied.
“Did you ask him to forgive you of your sins and to accept you as his daughter?”
“I did.”
I explained to her that because of her confession of faith in Jesus, if she were to die tonight, she can have assurance of living in eternity with God. No works need to be done. No scale needs to be satisfied. Jesus paid it all.
As we continued to talk about her new faith and the work of the Holy Spirit to help her grow and understand God’s Word, her face simply glowed. Though she has a physical ailment that would put anyone into a depression, she radiated peace and joy.
Her biggest desire is for her husband to know Jesus, and we discussed how she can pray for him, show him love and be a wise witness that God will use to soften his heart to the gospel.
A friend came in and joined our conversation. We were talking about forgiveness, true forgiveness, and this new believer asked us about “papers of forgiveness.” Because she used a word in Arabic I didn’t understand, I looked at her friend. Though a native Arab speaker, she too had no idea what she meant. When I asked her to explain the word, a light came on in my head, as she talked about what she had been taught in school about Christians paying for papers that guaranteed forgiveness.
“Indulgences!” I said. I then went on to tell her all about the history of the church and how by the 1500’s, it had become corrupted and had practices that were not biblical. Yet, there was one man who stood up to this wrong teaching — Martin Luther.
As I continued the story, both women were thrilled to learn about what he had done, and I finished by reaffirming that there is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness. Christ has paid the price and all we have to do is repent and ask him to forgive.
Driving home from this wonderful meeting, I just praised the Lord; first of all, for this new name written in heaven, but also for his seeing to the details of my life in preparation for this evening, for by my bed is the latest book I’m reading….on Martin Luther! I would never have had the facts so straight in my weak mind without having just read them over the past few days.
What a God we serve! He’s got my hairs numbered and my books! As a librarian, by profession, I appreciate that.
Do you notice the details that God’s taking care of in your life? Give him the glory and thanks for how he puts them all together to make something beautiful, when we surrender to his will.
Grace and Peace