When I try to tell a complete stranger about Christ I feel like a mumbling idiot; I'm almost positive I definitely look like one too. I know how good He is in my heart, why I adore and worship Him, but for some reason it's extremely hard or me to articulate. For example, I saw this girl while walking outside a gas station one summer morning. She was screaming obscenities into her phone, false eyelashes drooping off due to the tear overload, while pacing back and forth. (I seem to favor these kind of situation of distress for sharing Christ, not sure why?) Of course I ventured into closer proximities to listen in on her conversation, while trying to maintain the look of an innocent bystander. I felt an urgency: go give her Hope. What the heck? Where would I even start? "Um, Hi, Im HJ and I see you're having a rather rough day. I know this seems random, but I wanted to just relate with you in hope of telling you about The Savior", I go over in my head. That sounds so stupid, she'll cuss me our for sure...
I bee-lined straight for this tear-drenched, heart broken young lady. "Okay, maybe she'll respond better to some kindness," I thought to myself. So I offered to buy her a water. My palms were extremely sweaty and my heart must have been visibly beating against my t-shirt. "Lord, give me words," I muttered under my breath. Long story short- we spent two hours talking about her situation, stuttering, I told her about peace in Christ. I exchanged my number and invited her to church the next night. Sadly, she never showed and I haven't heard from Mookie till this day. But that memory crossed my mind as I was reading Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV) today.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
With the help of A.W. Tozer, and the Holy Spirit, Now I have a brighter understanding of what this portion of scripture really means. This "labor" Jesus is speaking of is not a physical load, but an inner-dwelling weight. The burdens of pride, artificiality, and even pretense are killers. They weigh on human hearts like a ton of bricks. Keeping up with them daily, even momentarily, causes much distress at a soul level. Christ came to release troubles, to free us from the weight of these sins. The good news is we don't have to walk in them, there is a Saviour.
When we are finding ourselves in Him, in His "gentle and lowly heart", (meekness, as the King James Version states) there we are free. The "rest" He promises us is FREEDOM! Freedom from our sin, and from ourselves. Now I see why this awesome verse is on so many coffee mugs and bible covers ;)
This is what I knew in my heart that day, the reason why I love Jesus, and trust in Him. The reason why I even wanted to approach her at that awkward gas station to begin with. I just didn't know how to articulate it. If I would of known the depth of this passage that one summer morning, and the other times Ive tried to relate the Gospel message to strangers Ive approached, I feel like I could have been more productive. (Not to say Christ didn't use my silly, confusing words to plant a seed anyways.)
"..but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.." 1 Peter 3:15 ESV
Too much love,
HJ
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