On the campus of UNL Monday morning. I started off by talking to a Muslim girl who tried to make everything she believed fit with everything I believed; however, she contradicted herself a few times. She maintained that the Muslims who stick to certain rules of Islam more than others do, are more holy than those who do not; however, she then said that it doesn't matter what they do as long as praying five times a day is included. I encouraged her to look into the person of Jesus, and she responded by saying that it had been an interesting conversation. I can only pray that what I shared actually made it into her memory and she does consider what I said and looks into it further.
The longest conversation I ended up having yesterday was with Shane, another one who came up to the table under the trees. Shane said that he believed in God and was searching for a religion that did not require the stiff practices such as he'd been raised with as a Catholic since he was six years old. I answered his heartfelt, meaningful questions as best I could, explaining the evidence for Jesus being God and reasons why we can believe what the Bible has to say and how there is no evidence for it having been corrupted or changed over the years. Shane had been told not to read the Bible by his catholic leaders. He was hearing a short portion of it once a week read to him in church, and a homily based off of the scripture from a Priest. I explained to him the importance of reading it in context and how people often take it out of context when they don't understand what the whole message of the Bible is saying altogether.
After talking for at least 45 minutes, I asked if I could pray for him aloud right there. I simply asked God to reveal Himself to Shane in a personal way, and to help him fully understand who Jesus is and why He came to die. Shane thanked me sincerely and walked away as my heart began to break. Shane's intense desire for truth was ringing clearly in every question he had asked. In my heart, I begged the Lord to clearly reveal Himself to Shane. It is not a light thing to see someone's raw heart in front of me, asking me to guide them to the Father, the Savior of the universe. While i wouldn't say that it is not intimidating, it is also heart-wrenching because I am looking at someone without hope, and sharing with them the truest form of hope they can ever experience. What is heart wrenching is to watch them walk away without having accepted it yet, begging the Lord to further work in their heart even though I will probably never see them again or know what decision they made. All I can do is continue praying for that person and trust God to take His truth that I spoke and continue moving it in the person's heart and soul to the point of salvation. That is what I must continue to do until I die.
It would be ideal to have a perfect speal-to have people fall on their knees in repentance and beg God's forgiveness. But it is not what is the case, and so, until it is, until people either fall to their knees in absolute surrender to the Lord of the universe, or fall to their knees with broken knee caps because they continue to refuse to admit the superiority of God, I will continue doing what I'm doing. Because people must hear it, whether they refuse to believe it or not. Because someday, to paraphrase Paul Washer, it will be declared to every ear on earth: Both good and bad news, depending on what each heart has chosen; the good news is, God is here. The bad news is, God is here.
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