Post by Michael James Stone on Jul 3, 2012 8:00:40 GMT -8
Tomorrow’s Testimony
Witnessing Tools
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Rebecca Droeger
Whether we realize it or not, everything we do will result in an outcome. Typically, we gravitate towards doing things that produce a desired result. We wouldn’t turn on a sink handle if we didn’t expect water to flow from the faucet, or drive a car if it wouldn’t take us where we want to go.
Yet, even though we anticipate and can predict some outcomes, they do not always happen the way we expect.
For instance, suppose you have been witnessing to a nonbeliever for several years. No matter how much you have prayed or how many times you have had divinely inspired conversations with your nonbelieving loved one, it just doesn’t seem to have any impact at all.
You know, without a doubt, that the Lord’s Word will not return on to Him void (Isaiah 55:11), yet you wonder if you’re casting your pearls to pigs because nothing seems to work (Matthew 7:6).
The problem with our culture stems from the fact that we’re used to instant gratification; which means, we’re used to seeing immediate, pleasing results.
If we want a new shirt, we do not have to make a pattern, buy or retrieve the cloth, then sew it all together. We can go to a store and buy it. Heck, we don’t even have to leave our house to get one now. We can order it from our computer or our phone and have it delivered directly to us!
We don’t even have to wait months or years to grow our own meat, fruits or vegetables. We can go to the store and buy those too. If we’re in a hurry, we can microwave our food in minutes. If we’re in a bigger hurry, we can go to a drive-thru; or better still, have it delivered like we did our nifty little shirt.
So, why hasn’t God just miraculously delivered the souls of our loved ones like Egg Roll Number 1 delivered our cashew chicken last Thursday? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, God doesn’t operate on the same time-line we do (2 Peter 3:9). In fact, what may seem like inaction to us, God may be taking millennia to finish the work He started in you (Philippians 1:6).
Take for instance the early Christian believers. Many of them died for their belief in Christ at the hands of the Roman government. Not only did they die, but their deaths were grisly and painful with great suffering. Oftentimes, they were burned, tortured, fed to ravenous beasts or crucified in front of cheering crowds. The Emperor Nero was known for burning Christians in his gardens at night as a source of light.
While very tragic, and perhaps senseless to fellow believers then and now, their witness proved the truth of their belief throughout the ages.
Just think, all the early believers had to do was recant their eye-witness testimony that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead to be spared their fate. They willingly went to their deaths because they could not deny what they knew was true.
Some might say “well, what about the believers that came after the eye-witnesses died out? Why did they have to die? They could have lived to witness to more souls if they would have just said they weren’t Christian. If the nonbelieving crowd in attendance that day never became believers, what was the point?”
The point may have not been meant for the nonbelievers in that day. It could have been meant for the nonbelievers almost 2,000 years later.
Nonbelieving historians like Josephus and Tacitus confirmed the existence of Jesus and the deaths of His followers. This provided extra-biblical proof to the existence of Christ and how His followers were willing to die for belief in Him.
Fast forward a millennia and several centuries later to nonbelievers setting out to prove either the non-existence of Jesus or that He was not who He claimed to be; famous author Lee Strobel attempted to do just that using his experience as an investigative journalist. Based on cross-referencing historical references, eye-witness accounts and the martyred Christians, it convinced Lee that Jesus was everything He said He was.
Look at Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah. No one believed the prophecies which God gave him, and King Zedekiah attempted to put him to death. Yet, God had His Word through Jeremiah recorded not so the current unrepentant Jews would turn from their wicked ways, but to show that what God said would happen did happen through historical documentation.
So, the next time you think that your witness for Christ is going nowhere, or you see the millions of Christians being persecuted today as meaningless, just know that their testimony could speak wonders for tomorrow and beyond.
Wow, not only are we a blessed generation to witness Prophecy fulfilled, but we God is working through us to fulfill that Prophecy.
Maranatha!
