Looking For a Way Out

January 30, 2006

It’s 3:13 am. I’m a little mad about that. Personally, I don’t think God should be allowed to wake me up at this forsaken hour. It kinda cuts into my sleeping time.

Nevertheless, here I sit—all cloistered in my closet, just me and my computer, so as not to disturb the rest of the world doing what THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT.

But, OK, so I’ll go with it. I’m flexible.

Last night I started a Life Transformation Group (a.k.a. LTG, developed by Neil Cole and appropriate materials can be found here toward the bottom of the page) with some very motivated and high-quality young women from church. Neither of them have been in an LTG before, so I gave ‘em the gist.

An LTG is made up of three parts. First, you read Scripture. Second, you go through a list of accountability questions. Third, you pray for people you know who are not yet Christians. Simple enough. I like it.

But I awoke tonight because I realized that Part 3 (i.e. praying for people you know who are not yet Christians) presents a problem.

I’ve got a few people on my list to pray for—one I’ll call Jane (to protect the innocent, of course). I like her, I really do…and it would be very cool to see her in heaven. (And it would be even cooler if her dog could be there too because I love her dog, especially since she’s one of the dogs I know who provides me with all the benefits of dog ownership without any of the headaches—more explanation here. But that’s just a side note.)

So, as I was saying, Jane is on my list of people to pray for. But I had a revelation. I don’t think simply praying for her counts. (And I’m pretty sure this is why God woke me up.) Not only do I have to pray for her, but I also have to be willing to let God use me in the process. For example, I might have to actually speak words to her about how to become a Christian…or something…as God leads of course.

I don’t like this.

I’d prefer to just pray for her…and let God do all the challenging stuff. Not that He’s asking, but if He were, this is how I think it should go:

“Dear God,

As you know, I’d really like Jane to get saved. Now. If you could just wake her up in the middle of the night one night by sending an angel to her house, that would be great. I’m kinda thinking along the lines of how you did that with Mary—you know, when the angel went to her and told her she was going to give birth to Jesus. That was cool—quick, to-the-point and totally effective.

Just tell her that she needs you and that she should really consider committing her life to you. A little preview of how heaven is would be good to throw in. She especially likes nice weather, so if you could highlight that, I’m sure she’d be totally into the whole idea for sure.

I’m not sure what varieties of angels you’ve got up there, but as you know, Jane hasn’t been feeling well lately. So if you could send an angel that is particularly good at healing, that would be a huge bonus. I mean, if an angel showed up, together with a totally irresistible preview of heaven PLUS she was healed of her current ailment, it would totally bolster your case.

So, anyway, that’s my deal.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention (but I guess you might already know) that she’s hoping to go away on a trip soon, so if you could arrange this ASAP, I’d really appreciate it. I would hate for her to leave before getting this all straightened out.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks!

Love,

Amy

P.S. I totally owe you one.

I think it’s a good prayer—not too wishy-washy, yet not too pushy either. Don’t you think?

So then, Question to Self: How many times in the Bible does God do something like this without using a human being as His instrument in the process?

Answer: Hardly ever.

Hmmmm.

OK.

Right.

So naturally, Next Question to Self: What additional mental gymnastics and rationalization techniques can I employ to get myself off the hook in this situation?

Category: Deep Thoughts, Life

Comments

5 Responses to “Looking For a Way Out”

  1. Laur
    February 1st, 2006 @ 2:19 pm

    geez louise. you sound like me.

  2. Julie
    February 1st, 2006 @ 7:10 pm

    The people you have known the longest are the hardest to talk to about this stuff…but one thing that’s helped me is that if I share the gospel, that Christ took the punishment that should have been mine, that by faith I can share in His righteousness before God, they aren’t rejecting ME if they reject God’s truth. I don’t have to take it personally, and it’s not my job to convince them. The Holy Spirit will do the work once we’ve been obedient to share.

  3. Patti
    February 2nd, 2006 @ 9:56 am

    Amy,

    God will guide you. And you are presumptious in thinking God will use you. You have been asked to pray. He may use you. But being a pastor’s wife, can he deplete you completely. You have a heck of a job.

    by the way, dogs don’t have original sin, so I do think all Dogs Go To Heaven. Jesus comes back on a white horse, where did he get the white horse. I don’t think he just zapped it. I think it was a white horse that died and went to heaven. That is my theology. Don’t debate. It might not stand up. I just don’t think dogs are dependent on their owners to get to heaven.

  4. Angi
    February 5th, 2006 @ 1:25 am

    I have a SIL I’ve tried to witness to, it has been teh hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Kind oflike singing in front of your own church, I get soooo nervous when singing at my home church. But put me in front of a crowd of strangers, and I’m fine. I figure, I’ll never see these people again, so why worry. That’s how it is with witnessing.

    But at least you have made one step forward, pray is always the first step, then being a willing vessel… that one is one I have to pray about all the time, being willing….

  5. Annette
    February 10th, 2006 @ 3:38 pm

    I just wanted to let you know that your blog brightens my day. this last post was hilarious and I thank God that He has blessed you with a sense of humor. Just keep praying for wisdom and guidance, and … I have learned that sometimes just living out loud as a Christian is the best witness you can give. You don’t always have to *say* something. Just live what you beleive.

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