![\"lightbulb\"](\"http:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/small-lightbulb.jpg\")
How life\u2019s interruptions are hidden opportunities to further the gospel.<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How life\u2019s interruptions are hidden opportunities to further the gospel.<\/b><\/h2>\nPastor Dave,* in his closing remarks on Sunday, quoted 2 Corinthians 5:20: \u201cTherefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.\u201d He challenged the congregation to believe the Lord for \u201cdivine appointments\u201d in the coming week. He explained that if we were ready and willing, God would give us opportunities to have spiritual conversations with people. \u201cSome may already be believers and God can use you to encourage them. While others don\u2019t yet know Christ… you<\/i> may be the one to share the gospel with them\u2013perhaps for the first time.\u201d I\u2019m sure each one in the congregation, like me, filed out the door with visions of \u201cdivine appointments\u201d dancing in our heads.<\/p>\n
How did it go? Well, to give you an idea, here\u2019s a snapshot of a typical week for me:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Overnight the temperature dropped to well below freezing and our furnace quit working. The kids were late for school\u2013\u2013again. On the drive to work, I was heckled by a disturbing noise coming from what sounded like the transmission. A project at work had a looming deadline, so I ate a sandwich alone at my desk instead of going to lunch with my colleagues. After work, I hurried home in time to be there for the furnace repairman. I then stopped to make an appointment at the auto repair shop for next week. After supper, evening was spent helping our three children with homework and getting them off to bed. Tuesday was just as busy, with numerous unforeseen interruptions. Then came Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… Before I knew it, the week had flown by without so much as a single \u201cdivine appointment.\u201d The thing is, admittedly, it was a fairly normal week not only for me, but for many of the Christians I\u2019ve talked with.<\/p>\n
I think we\u2019re all familiar with the Scripture passages about our mandate: to be ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20); we\u2019re to wisely make the best use of our time with unbelievers (Col. 4:5, Eph. 5:16); and always be ready to give an answer for our hope in Jesus (1 Peter 3:15). Most believers I\u2019ve talked with truly desire to be effective in these things, but the challenge is how to do so in the midst of life\u2019s daily interruptions.<\/p>\n
I shared these difficulties the other day with my friend and colleague, Tom. After quietly listening, he said something quite profound that has completely changed my perspective.<\/p>\n
He said,<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not about the light bulb.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d I blurted, convinced at first that my grinning friend was just trying to change the subject.<\/p>\n
Like most pithy proverbs, though, it only makes sense with the backstory, which Tom was kind enough to share:<\/p>\n
He told how a few years ago, he and some of our colleagues were working together to redecorate the office. One of the finishing touches was to illuminate a piece of artwork with a light fixture. But, frustratingly, the special bulb was burned out. So Tom headed out the door to the lighting store just up the street.<\/p>\n
After quite some time he finally returned, new light bulb in hand. Someone asked, \u201cWhat took so long?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom explained that when the store clerk first approached him, the man\u2019s long hair and surly appearance gave him pause. But in the course of their conversation, Tom discovered that Chris* was a solid believer in Jesus Christ and they actually had much in common, including a deep burden to share their faith in terms people could understand. That conversation, which started because of a simple light bulb, became the beginning of an ongoing friendship\u2013\u2013one where Chris was introduced to GoodSeed resources that clearly explain the Bible\u2019s message in an objective, non-arm-twisting manner. In the years since, Chris has gone on to share those resources with his own friends and family who need Jesus.<\/p>\n
So, \u201cIt\u2019s not about the light bulb!\u201d means that life\u2019s annoying interruptions can often be hidden opportunities to further the gospel. Sometimes it\u2019s with believers who can be encouraged and spurred on in their walk with God, while other times we have opportunities to build relationship bridges with those who aren\u2019t yet believers. How we respond to them in the midst of our difficult circumstance can make or break how receptive they may be towards hearing our message.<\/p>\n
In other words, when the furnace goes on the fritz, I can say, \u201cAh, I\u2019ll get to meet a furnace repairman… I might be able to give him a book that explains the gospel clearly.\u201d Or the next time my son is late for school and I have to write a note to his teacher, I can be sure to thank her for all her hard work in educating my son. That way, the next time I see her there will be good will between us! Or the sound of transmission trouble may be telling me it\u2019s time to connect again with Mike, my mechanic. Or why don\u2019t I go to lunch with my colleagues more often? Or as a dad, could it be that most of the \u201cdivine appointments\u201d God has for me are with my own children, teaching them to walk with God and share Him with others?<\/p>\n
How about you? When unforeseen interruptions crop up, how do you respond? What opportunities do you have to further the gospel in the midst of interruptions in your life?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about the ___________.\u201d How would you fill in the blank? Do share in your comments below.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(*Names changed as per GoodSeed policy.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How life\u2019s interruptions are hidden opportunities to further the gospel. Pastor Dave,* in his closing remarks on Sunday, quoted 2 Corinthians 5:20: \u201cTherefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.\u201d He challenged the congregation to believe the Lord for \u201cdivine appointments\u201d in the coming week. He explained that if we … Continue reading “It’s not about the light bulb!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-be-ready"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1838"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4838,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions\/4838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}