It's exciting to experience the healing and renewing that God does within us! When you feel the change that God is making inside of you , you definitely feel like shouting about it from the highest mountain top for the whole world to hear! If you have loved ones that have yet to experience this amazing transformation you may find yourself chomping at the bit to rush in and tell them what they are missing out on. If you are not very tactful with your delivery you might end up doing more damage than good because not everyone is in the same place on their faith walk. Our passion can easily be misunderstood. Remaining humble and patient is the key.
If our intent is to be loving then our actions should also be loving. The way we communicate should be done in a loving manner. Our intent should not be to "win" but to share. Sharing our love for God can be a beautiful thing, but it isn't always easy to do when we know those around us definitely don't seem interested in hearing about him or all of the amazing things he has done or changed in our life. In these situations we should focus on praising God in our conversations and emulating his qualities. Listening to those around us when they need an ear, helping others when we can , and offering to pray for them during their dark times. I remember one of the most pivotal things that brought me closer to God was when I was struggling and seeking the Lord. I was asked by someone I had never physically met or laid eyes on, if there was anything that I needed them to pray about. a flood of emotion rushed forward. Someone was willing to pray for me? They don't even know me! I consider prayer a powerful thing and the act of praying for others known and unknown is definitely an act of love and faith.
This is definitely a situation where we should muster up as much grace and patience as we can before diving into our delivery. Often ones intentions are good, but the delivery is horrible so the outcome can be tragic. The awesomeness we couldn't wait to share comes across as a sucker punch from left field. This often occurs when we make the other person go on their defense and that often happens when our words and our actions come across condescending. When we say things in a haughty manner and make them feel like they are doing everything in their life wrong and they need to stop and do things like "we do". That's not fair and we end up doing more damage than good. Are we accurately portraying the Lord with this rude and abrasive behavior? Where in the bible have you read Jesus winning souls by being mean? I can't recall any. We must trust in God's timing. God's timing is such a beautiful thing! We crave for him to use us to help spread the Gospel, to help save more brothers and sisters from dying in their sin, but we must not force it. Whenever we try to force outcomes with our flesh instead of trusting in the Lord, nothing good ever happens. We get the counterfeit version the devil had a hand in creating and not the outcome we pictured or intended.
God has given each of us talents and he knows which one of us are equipped to handle certain jobs and situations. He knows who is best to place the appropriate hardware into the correct socket and which one of us is better equipped to turn the handle to effectively "finish the job".. A wrench does not jump out of a tool box and start cranking away at nuts and bolts all on it's own. Could you imagine the mess that would make? Some would be so loose that the entire structure could fall apart while others would be twisted so tightly causing the threads to be stripped and hard to remove. It's a blessing that we are the ones in control of the wrench. We know where to use it and how to use it in the same manner it is such a blessing that we are tools that God knows how to use. He knows where to use us. Let’s continue to listen to what God has to tell us, praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and waiting for God to pick us up and use us where we are needed. If we put more trust in ourselves instead of God, we may end up really making a mess out of things and that is exactly what the devil wants. He wants to take our good intentions, twist them into a club and have us whack others with our happiness and good intentions. We need to be patient wrenches, praying and waiting for God to use us when and where he needs us the most.
