Since returning from Toronto, I have been really convicted about living missionally. It is a great thing to be able to travel hundreds or thousands of miles away and tell others about Jesus. However, why do I find it necessary to travel so far to share the Gospel with others? Why am I only concerned about the salvation of the people living in other cities and nations? I am so bold and intentional on mission trips, but that stops the second I come back home. That is inexcusable! I HATE that I do that!
Since I’ve been convicted about this, I have really been praying that God would graciously enable me to live more intentionally. I am trying to stop focusing so much on the future, but instead learning to be intentional and focused on the present and the opportunities God is blessing me with right now. Since I have started earnestly praying this prayer, God has blessed me abundantly and has opened my eyes to all of the opportunities He has given me to glorify Him.
One group of people that God has particularly called me to minister to has been my co-workers. I just started a new job this week as a barista at a local coffee shop. I have been praying about this job for weeks now, and praying for the opportunity to be a light in this place. I started training Thursday morning, but Wednesday night I was able to go to Fusion (a Bible Study for college-aged kids at my church). We watched a video that night with a few clips from a pastor’s talk. He was challenging the audience to really take evangelism seriously. At one point in the video, he reminds the people listening, “That barista at Starbucks? The one you see every morning when you go to get your daily latte? Think about this: They have a soul. They don’t exist solely to make your coffee. They have a soul; an eternal soul.” That was such an awesome reminder to me about the importance of ministering to my coworkers! It was like God was giving me a friendly little nudge, and a gentle reminder about the importance of ministering to the people that I am going to be interacting with on a daily basis.
I had no idea about the spiritual lives of my coworkers, but I was anxious to see who God was going to call me to minister to at this new job. I was thinking that I would maybe be able to talk with one person, maybe two if God was really generous and wanted to bless me with plenty of chances to tell others about Him. Boy, did I underestimate Him! He was not kidding when He said, “Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Malachi 3:10).
I was eagerly praying that God would send me to the spiritually dark areas of Newport News and enable me to share the love of Christ with the people I interacted with. I have recently begun to realize how few non-Christians I hang out with on a regular basis, and it is so sad! How am I supposed to tell others about Christ if I don’t hang out with people who aren’t Christians? So I prayed that God would help me develop relationships with people who didn’t know Jesus yet. He answered quickly.
I absolutely love my coworkers. They have been so kind and encouraging as I’ve been going through training. I cannot wait to get to know them each on a more personal level as we continue to work together. In the three days that I have worked, I have learned a little bit about each of them.
And you know what I have come to realize?
My new place of employment is a very spiritually dark place.
I have worked with 7 people so far, and none of them are living for the Lord. It is kind of intimidating. Each of my coworkers has different beliefs and lifestyles. One coworker is gay, one is bisexual and currently dating two girls at the same time, one is “involved” with many different people, one frequently makes inappropriate sexual comments, one is an out-spoken agnostic, and one is involved in psychics/palm readings/tarot cards. And I already love each and every one of them. They are such awesome people! I cannot wait to get to know them better. And I hope and pray that as I get to know them, that my life can be a testimony to the saving power of Christ. I pray that when they look at me and see my life, they don’t see me, but instead see the power of Christ displayed in me. I pray they see His saving grace, His steadfast love and mercy, His sovereignty, His forgiveness, His redemptive power, and Power as Savior in my life. I pray and hope that my life would speak volumes; I pray that God would open doors for us to have honest conversations about religion and the true message of the Gospel. I pray that God would open their eyes to their need for a Savior. I also pray that God would not allow me to settle in, get comfortable, and forget the urgency to minister to those around me. We are engaged in spiritual battle here! I want to be a Spartan warrior involved in the depths of the battle, not some pansy sitting on the sidelines! Instead of being intimidated, I am going to boldly charge forward for Christ and trust that He will equip me for what He has called me to and that He will clothe me in the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20). I am so thankful that He has blessed me with the opportunity to be a light in this dark place, and I cannot wait to see His plan unfold for my coworkers. Please keep them in your prayers.
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