The power of now: How I missed sharing God’s love

Transcript:

Hey, I’m Samm, and I work in full-time ministry, which means sometimes people hold me to a higher standard to live out the Bible perfectly. Well, I want to tell you about a time when I had the opportunity to hold the doors to God’s kingdom wide open for someone, and I didn’t.

I moved to the Middle East for a year in college to study abroad, and I had the desire to share the gospel with other students on campus. So in between classes, I found ways to have these spiritual conversations using a pack of pictures. I found that when people could answer questions with photos, not only would they answer more honestly, but they would share a lot more than without them.

I once sat down at a table with two guys and a girl just started chatting, and I asked them if I could talk with them about spiritual things using these photos, and they were totally open to talking about it. And so after a few minutes, only one of the guys really seemed engaged in the conversation still. And so I asked what his relationship was like with God or his view of God was like. And he shared that while he grew up in a home that practiced a different religion, he went to a private Christian school, which I was surprised by, but he told me that wasn’t really uncommon for the city he lived in. He said, “There’s this little boy in my kindergarten class who prayed to God like he was real, like he had a real relationship with him.”

Then he said, “I wish somebody would tell me how I could have a relationship with God like that.” I was shocked. Like, when you think about sharing the gospel, this is what you hope for. I was nervous that the other two who weren’t really listening to the conversation anymore would take away from me sharing the gospel if I started right then.

I wanted to share the good news of Jesus with him. So I asked like, “Hey, would you want to get together later this week?” And he was like, “Sure.” When we left the conversation, I prayed that I would see him again so that I could share with him. And I actually only saw him two other times, and both times he was literally running off to class.

And so I was so disappointed in myself for not taking the opportunity that God clearly gave me. I’ll never forget him. I wish I had trusted the Holy Spirit to speak through me, risked getting interrupted and actually share the gospel. Sometimes you aren’t going to do it right. And thankfully, God isn’t surprised when we mess up.

And he’s so kind to continue to give us chances and opportunities. So don’t let failure stop you from trying to share again.