My Best Excuse... Squelched

Three years ago, I took a secretary job at my church. I was elated to support the pastors and to be a part of that ministry! Though I loved working there, my job came with one drawback: there was no one to share the gospel with. Up to this point, I had taught piano lessons, which opened the door for great conversations with unbelievers.

Now I found myself working down the hall of a church office, isolated in a (wonderful) Christian environment.

The lack of opportunities dulled my burden for the lost and deadened my boldness. Pretty soon, I rarely had a gospel conversation with anyone, and I'm ashamed to say that I had no plan to change it. Whenever I felt any conviction about it, I would tell myself,

"I have absolutely zero opportunities to share the gospel."

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Over the past couple of months, the Spirit really troubled me about my lack of boldness. I prayed a lot about it, partially just to appease my conscience. I was still leaning on my excuse:

Dear God, I barely know anyone who's not a Christian!

How am I supposed to be Your witness?

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Through different chance encounters, God started opening my eyes to a certain religion. It seemed they were suddenly everywhere! I started reading a book about this belief system and how to share the gospel with them. I listened to podcasts about these people and prayed for them, watched videos of people who had converted to Christianity and left this religion behind.

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Meanwhile, I took a trip to San Antonio for the National Bible Bee Alumni Service Team (or AST). I hope to write more about this trip later because it was a really encouraging time with like-minded peers. Anyway, on my way out, I had tried to start up conversations on the plane, but my fellow passengers either wore headphones or were Christians already. :) After some wonderful and motivating fellowship in San Antonio, it was time for my flight back. Several other AST members had the same flight to Dallas, while I had a much later flight that would get me to Dallas after they had all finished their layovers and flown home. I applied for standby just in case I could take the earlier flight. Why not?

I asked the gate agent if he knew anything about my standby status, and he handed me my new boarding pass to board the earlier flight. Praise God! How kind of Him to let me be with my friends a little while longer.

I shuffled down the aisle of the plane, watching the row numbers. 30, 31, 32... I had the last seat on the plane, with a pleasant-looking, middle-aged woman sitting by the window. A young lady sat between us and made a friendly comment and the conversation died quickly. I kicked myself inwardly. I couldn't muster up the courage to say something else-- the young lady was reading a book now. I rummaged for the small travel Bible in my purse and started to read it. I prayed as I read,

God, please help me to speak!

Out of the blue, the woman by the window asked, "Is that a Bible?" Thank You, Lord! I said yes and we discussed what a nifty little travel Bible it was. I asked, "Do you like the Bible?" What a dumb question. Though I felt I had asked a silly question, that opened the floor for a flight-long conversation with both women about the Bible, their beliefs, and Jesus.

As it turns out, the window woman was a Catholic, which we encounter often in NM, and the young lady belonged to the same belief system I was studying up on! Ironically, I had planned to read the book about her religion on the plane, but this was much better. :) By the end of the flight, I had a chance to share my personal testimony and write down some prayer requests from both of them. We even took a picture together and shared contact information!

I came off of the flight encouraged and excited. God is so good. And to think I wasn't even supposed to be on that flight!

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God is good, and He transcends the best excuses I can offer. Even since I've come home from vacation, He's shown me that I have more opportunities than I thought. I'm excited to share more of my evangelism journey soon!