God's Faithfulness and My Fear

Last night my community group went out to share the gospel as part of the Proclaim course that we are currently going through. As the GO (Gospel Outreach) Facilitator for the group, my primary responsibility was to aid in the planning and execution of this night of outreach. As I was preparing for the meeting, there was a fear in my heart of going out to share the gospel. Even though I serve in several outreach oriented areas in the church, it does not mean that I am skilled at evangelism. I still get nervous and anxious every time.

By God's grace, the best part about being the GO Facilitator is that I can't easily squirm out of going out to share the gospel with my community group. But the amazing part is, no matter how I feel about everything, once we go out God is always faithful to meet us.

As we walked around the Media, PA last night, I was skeptical that we would even find anyone to talk to. However, as we approached a trolley stop, there was a woman waiting on a bench. I asked her if she would mind taking a spiritual survey that we had. She agreed and expressed that she had grown up in the Catholic church but wasn't attending currently. When asked why she thought God should let her into heaven, she said because she was a good person. I led in to the How Good Are You booklet and she expressed that she thought that God's laws listed in the booklet could lead people to fear. I asked if she meant fear of judgment if God was real. She said yes and I explained that God's acceptance of us is based upon what Christ has done and not our own good works. We talked for a little while more and things went in circles and off track a bit, but the gospel was proclaimed.

After talking to her, I walked away with a fresh realization of what it is to engage non-Christians with the gospel. My heart was affected by the confusion that was expressed as she was explaining what she believed. More than that, I realized that the only difference between her and I was that God had moved my heart and opened my eyes to the truth. I came away amazed at the grace of God which I do not deserve.