by Chris Elrod
I love doing youth ministry! One of the greatest blessings of my role is seeing the way God works through and within our teenagers. It’s amazing to see all the ways He blesses them and uses them for His glory! Sometimes I even find myself being challenged by their faith. Last weekend, at our Spring Retreat, was one of those times where I was both in awe of our God and challenged to be better. I sat down to study with a small group of students. One of which is brand new to the church but is eagerly seeking a relationship with Christ. She was invited to Bible Class by one of our young ladies who had been praying for an opportunity to lead someone to Christ and His church. What amazed me was the young lady who she invited had also been praying to find good friends as she started at a new school!
HOW COOL IS THAT??? Here we have two teenagers praying to God, one asking for opportunities to share His love and the other asking to be blessed with good friends! God works in providing the opportunity for these girls to meet, and boom, both prayers are answered. Our God is awesome and is at work to bring about the salvation of souls. This left me in awe of our God!
However, after I reflected more I saw an area where I needed to be better. How often am I praying for opportunities to lead souls to Christ? Not as often as I should. This is my new prayer, and I hope you will make it your prayer as well! You never know who in your life might be praying for answers, salvation, for new friends, or for a church home. Maybe you will be God’s answer to their prayer.
Yet on the other hand, maybe there are people who don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to Christ. Maybe there are people who don’t know what they are missing! And maybe if we would just look up, we would see the fields are white, ready for the harvest (John 4:35). We can’t forget, God wants to save everyone (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). He will provide us with opportunities, but we need to open our eyes to them! I don’t know about you, but I needed this reminder! I hope you will join me in praying for opportunities to share the Gospel with others! I am thankful for our youth and their faithful example!
The wall is coming down, more chairs will be added, the opportunity is now!