Page 3 of 3I struggled for years after that feeling that there must be something wrong with me. Then one day I discovered that I was sharing the gospel with people without even trying. I went to a chiropractor for several months. We developed a relationship, and I found myself spending twenty minutes being treated and an hour talking with the chiropractor and his staff at every visit. Out of that grew a Bible study. The gospel was shared, marriages were strengthened, commitments were renewed, and seeds were sown.
The difference was God. In the first situation, sharing the gospel was something I determined to do. In the second, it was something God did.
In my first full-time pastorate, I developed a friendship with the local sheriff's deputy. The first time we met, we went horseback riding. He had a question on his mind. "Why don't you drink?"
It wasn't the gospel, but I had an opportunity to give a non-condemning answer to a loaded question. From that time on, a pattern and a friendship developed. He would pick me up in his patrol car or in his pickup truck and we would drive—sometimes into the mountains, and sometimes to another town. And there would always be a question.
I never pushed. I just prayed and answered his questions the best I knew how. One day he picked me up in his truck so we could head for the mountains "to look for bear."
We drove for a couple of hours, then headed back into town. I thought it strange that there had been no questions. In front of my house he turned to me and said, "I've decided to give my life to the Lord."
God brings people to faith in his time, but we must trust him enough to wait.
Rick Weinert is pastor of Spring Bible Church in Spring, Texas.
Copyright 2001 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
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