We just finished Week of Prayer here at Ouachita Hills. The Beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12) is always a favorite topic, but there's always more to glean from those verses. It made my heart sing to see a fresh glimpse of my Father's love for me. But the best part was Friday night.
Friday night the speaker made an appeal for baptism. Several students responded, including two of my academy girls! As the congregation was leaving the meeting hall, one of my girls came to me trying hard not to cry. She could hardly speak for the struggle. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, torn as to whether it was too late for her to join the group who had responded for baptism. I asked her if she wanted to go join the small cluster that had formed around the speaker and pastors. She clung to me for a minute, her eyes, swimming with tears as she struggled. "Go join them," I whispered to her, "It's not too late."With a smile peeking through her tears, she joined the ones who had made their decision that night. Another soul enlisted under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel!
Sometimes I've wondered if I am being an effective worker for God. I can't point to large numbers of people who have surrendered their hearts to Christ as a result of my work. I can't even point to a lot of people who have gone to the mission field because of my work. By those standards, my life and work have been complete failures already. But Friday night, I realized that, in reality, no one can really claim to have led "so many" people to the Lord. Each person's conversion is the result of uncounted numbers of times God sent someone to work on that person's heart. "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase" (1 Cor. 3:6, 7). What a privilege it is to watch God work in the hearts of those around me, but especially in the hearts of my younger brothers and sisters! And I'm so thankful that God stoops to encourage us, even when we shouldn't have doubted in the first place.
Friday night the speaker made an appeal for baptism. Several students responded, including two of my academy girls! As the congregation was leaving the meeting hall, one of my girls came to me trying hard not to cry. She could hardly speak for the struggle. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, torn as to whether it was too late for her to join the group who had responded for baptism. I asked her if she wanted to go join the small cluster that had formed around the speaker and pastors. She clung to me for a minute, her eyes, swimming with tears as she struggled. "Go join them," I whispered to her, "It's not too late."With a smile peeking through her tears, she joined the ones who had made their decision that night. Another soul enlisted under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel!
Sometimes I've wondered if I am being an effective worker for God. I can't point to large numbers of people who have surrendered their hearts to Christ as a result of my work. I can't even point to a lot of people who have gone to the mission field because of my work. By those standards, my life and work have been complete failures already. But Friday night, I realized that, in reality, no one can really claim to have led "so many" people to the Lord. Each person's conversion is the result of uncounted numbers of times God sent someone to work on that person's heart. "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase" (1 Cor. 3:6, 7). What a privilege it is to watch God work in the hearts of those around me, but especially in the hearts of my younger brothers and sisters! And I'm so thankful that God stoops to encourage us, even when we shouldn't have doubted in the first place.
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