Your Life: The Sign the World Is Looking For

 

Rich Miller – Manager, CBN Prayer Center Digital Interactions, cbn.com

I wasn’t necessarily doing anything ‘spiritual,’ per se. I was waiting for my clothes to finish at the laundromat and reading a book about Christ-centered families for one of my university classes. I definitely was not sitting there praying and asking the Lord to open the door to witness. Instead, my face was buried in the book so that I could catch up on our required homework.

Then, a gentleman approached me and tried to strike up a conversation. While outwardly polite, I was a little annoyed and did not want to be distracted. Yet I also knew from experience that Jesus usually sets up scenarios like this. So, after a few minutes of trying to do both, I surrendered to the divine appointment and set down the book.

At some point during the conversation, I mentioned the Lord, and that is when he dropped a bomb. It turns out that he was a former pastor who had gotten hurt in ministry and not only left the church but walked away from God. The Lord had been dealing with his heart to come back to Him.

I was floored by this divine appointment God had set up; we had similar stories growing up and had even dealt with similar health challenges. He later told me that as soon as he saw me, he knew that he was supposed to approach me and that God would speak to him through me. A couple of hours into the conversation, I asked him if he wanted to return to the Lord. He ended up rededicating his life to Jesus that night. In that encounter, the Lord had me there to be a sign for him.

This brief encounter reminds me of how John the disciple concluded his gospel:

So then, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31 NASB).

How about you? Whether you are new to life with Jesus or have walked with Him for years, the Lord wants to use you as a sign to point others to Him. He wants to use your story to draw those who have experienced similar life circumstances to Himself. The prophet Isaiah said,

“Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of armies, who dwells on Mount Zion” (Isaiah 8:18).

Our Father designs encounters for others to believe in Him and invites you to be a part of this journey. We must be sensitive to the doors He opens. It will often not be part of the schedule we have planned. Yet, most of us came to the Lord because of others who were willing to be inconvenienced for Him and to be a sign to help us believe.