Normally when I write articles for Adopted Believers, I like to have three key points with two or three supporting points below. It is a method that I find helpful for me as I write and you as you read. However, I am going to do something a little bit different today. Today I am simply going to tell a story, a story of God’s faithfulness to me when I obeyed Him. I have decided to call this story “The Called, Equipped” to borrow from the saying “God doesn’t call the equipped—He equips the called.” That is really my story today in one sentence. But lest I bore you with endless rambling, let me tell you what God did for me.
I was recently having a conversation with someone I had just met. We’ll call this individual Sonny. Sonny and I were getting to know each other, and we were telling each other about what we wanted to be when we grew up. He told me his future plans with great enthusiasm, so I knew I had to tell mine back. Before I met Sonny, I had known that God expected me to use the place that I was at to spread the gospel, so I was more mindful for opportunities to share. This seemed like a good opportunity to talk about my faith.
When it came time to talk about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told Sonny that I wanted to be a pastor when I grew up. I then told him why I wanted to be a pastor, and that is because Jesus saved me from my sins when I was six and now I want to use my gifts to glorify Him. After that we went about our own business.
Around thirty minutes later, Sonny comes up to me and asks if in a little while we could talk about some religious questions. This is when I knew that God was at work. By all human accounts, my testimony is pretty boring. But Sonny had some questions! That’s when I knew I needed continued help form God, so I prayed to him for the words to say. I answered a few of his questions before we sat down and talked, so I got a pretty good sense of where he was at. He was someone who grew up in a Christian home but had some questions about Christianity, points that he just couldn’t wrap his head around.
When the time came for us to sit down and talk about his questions in detail, I was pretty ready. I’ve been a believer for ten years, and it also helps that as a young believer I have lots of time to read! That’s a luxury that likely won’t last too long. But that’s beside the point. My friend Sonny asked me some questions about Christianity, and I was able to answer most of them by the grace of God. God’s grace didn’t end there though.
As we were talking, two other guys happened to be sitting around while we were talking. These guys were complete strangers, but it just so happened that they were believers too! These two men prayed with us, and helped answer a lot of Sonny’s questions in a gracious, patient way. My friend Sonny was, and is, looking for truth. My hope and prayer is that he finds it in Christ—the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Whether or not God chooses to water the seeds is beyond my understanding. But what I do know is that God told me to plant, and when I trusted Him, He equipped me to plant. Is there an are in your life where God has told you to do something and you haven’t obeyed yet? If there is, my encouragement to you is to remember that God will always strengthen you to do what He commands you to, if you trust Him. God doesn’t call the equipped—He equips the called.
