He is able
Last night at Skid row was much different than last week. I was with a different group of people who I think were a little more timid about sharing the gospel than those I was with before. We talked with 3 people the entire night (10 pm-1 am). One of them just talked and talked, barely allowing us to speak without interrupting us. It was a very frustrating and maddening at times listening to him slander the Word of God and Christianity. Several times I interjected and he brushed off what I said as if I hadn't spoken at all.
For the most part, I was fighting feeling discouraged throughout the night. The Lord kept impressing me with the fact that He is in complete control of every situation we came across. Though it was not as much of an encouragement as last week, I still need to be faithful to go and love the people the Lord allows me to talk with. I didn't see Amber or Brentwood or any of the other people from last week, except Joseph. I asked how his week was and he seemed like he was trying to impress us with all the good things he did. He even told me that he has a Bible and has been reading it. I asked what he's been reading and he said "Corinthians." I said, "What kind of things have you been reading in Corinthians?" He ignored me, but another guy who was there (John) asked him again and Joseph said "Well, I haven't been so good this week at reading it...." He trailed off at the end and changed the subject. I was ready to turn it back to the gospel (I think John was too) but one of the other guys there picked up Joseph's bait, which was talking about smoking cigarettes when he was three. Sigh... The Lord knows exactly what He's doing!
Before I'm tempted to say too many negative things about the night, I'll change the subject. Heather and Abigail went up to visit Ruth this weekend in Ripon and they are hiking Half Dome right now. I would have loved to be with them, but I'm going to spend the rest of today doing homework. Yep... so on that note, here I go! Have a wonderful weekend, God bless!
2 Comments:
The important thing to remember is that the Lord was just as much sovereign over this time as last time. And He knows hearts. There may have been things going on that you weren't even aware of. Just continuing to be faithful to do what He wants you to do. I often think of Jeremiah. No one, except maybe his helper, EVER listened to him, and yet he was faithful to preach God's message.
Be aware too that people, no matter how down and out they've become, are sensitive to being used. When someone comes along preaching the gospel, it's easy to get the feeling that they're more interested in feeling holy or doing "good" work themselves and don't have any real dedication to those people who have fallen through the gaps in our paltry welfare and mental health infrastructure.
I think coming away from "skid row" cheery or uplifted is one of the more scary things I can image. Those people don't get to leave their situations, return to well-lit dorms, and blog about disheartening evenings. One can learn a lot from empathy, and perhaps sadness is a step towards true compassion.
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