A Great Mistake

Kim and her outreach partner knocked on the door.

A woman at this address had requested Bible studies.

This was the first time they had ever been involved in this kind of outreach, and while they wanted to do their very best, there was a part of each of them that hoped no one would answer the door. They knocked several times, and when no one answered, they turned to walk back to their car, partly disappointed and partly relieved.

Upon reaching the curb, they heard the door of the house open and a voice asking what they wanted. Kim replied that they were there to deliver a Bible lesson. What they heard next amazed them both. The lady who came to the door explained that the reason she was so slow to respond to their knocking was that she was in her back room asking God to send someone to help her to better understand the Bible! She was delighted that Kim and her outreach partner were there, and she gratefully accepted the Bible study they were there to deliver. We make a great mistake when we think people will not respond to the gospel. It is true; we live in a very secular age.

A generation ago, most people identified in some way with a church. More and more people today have been raised without a church connection, meaning they don’t approach faith in God with a series of predetermined ideas.

Of course, not everyone is going to respond positively to the Christ of the Bible. But God isn’t asking us to be successful.

He is asking us to be faithful and to work alongside the Holy Spirit in reaching out to those in whose lives He has already been working.

We cannot see God speaking to hearts or intervening in people’s lives. We cannot tell when someone is crying out to God or experiencing circumstances where God is reaching or impressing them with their need for a Savior.

But Jesus has assured us that the “gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations” (Matthew 24:14).