Wednesday, January 9, 2008

You Never Know...

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (1 Corinthians 15:58, NLT)

I was still very shy back in high school. Somehow, in spite of that, my circle of friends included some of the more popular kids on campus. I was never included as being "popular" by any of my peers, but my friends never left me out of anything during our school hours. Anything except for lunch, that is. While I can't remember the reasons for this, I know one factor was that there was an on-campus lunchtime Bible study a couple of times a week that I attended. When I wasn't at the Bible study, I spent my lunch hour fairly alone under some trees in the middle of the Maui High campus. There were a couple of other girls who ate alone under those trees as well and we developed a "lunchtime friendship". I used to ask them to come with me to the Bible study, but none of them ever took me up on it. After graduation, I don't know that I ever gave any thought to those lunchtime buddies again. Life simply moved on.

About 12 or 13 years later I received an email from one of those lunchtime buddies. Her name was Susie. She had gone to great lengths to track me down because she wanted me to know that she had recently become a Christian. She said that there were two factors that came into play in her accepting Christ as her Savior. One of those factors had been my lunchtime friendship with her all those years ago. She said that she never forgot me asking her to the Bible study or offering her friendship that no one else would offer. When life became very difficult for her, she decided that maybe she needed to give God a try. There was another person in her life who God used to actually lead her to salvation, but she still felt that God had used me all those years ago to plant a seed in her heart and to show her His love.

I was dumbfounded. I would have never in a million years guessed that my simple gestures would have had any lasting impact on her. I realized in a new and mighty way that God can and does use us in even the smallest of situations. More often than not, we don't have people searching us out to tell us how our actions played a part in showing them God's love in a tangible way. And so we go about our lives feeling as if we are not making a difference. But that is not true. The verse above says it best: "...nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

Live each day with an awareness that your actions and words could be working in a profound way on someone's heart and life. Allow God to love through you. Someday, up in heaven, you may just be amazed at the fruit of your life.

Do you remember anyone in your life who was instrumental in showing God's love when you needed it most? Take some time today to see if you can track them down to say thank you. It will be an amazing encouragement to them.