Or should I ask "Already?"
In answer to prayers, the Lord has been gracious and kind to me in this most unusual month of life (and death) events. Much on the old plate as you have read. But I love that our God is absolutely sovereign in all things. I am so at peace knowing that "all things happen for the good of those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose."
As it turned out, for reasons that only serve for His glory, the Lord was not about to let a thorn in my (back)side hinder me from sharing the gospel with people in January. It was He who gave me the opportunities and the strength to do so wherever He had me, with and because of my sciatica.
1) God made it so that I got to choose the 3 Scripture readings for my mother's Roman Catholic funeral mass. At the appointed time during the service, I read with all my heart a good portion of Romans 8. I even spent a moment giving context to the reading. Some were appreciative. Some were offended. Not sure if it was because of what I read or how I read it. I assume both.
2) The Lord gave me the strength to stand long enough and preach the gospel at a local nursing home as part of our church's monthly service it provides there as a form of outreach, of which I am one of four brothers who volunteer to preach throughout the year. One dear resident was moved to tears by what she heard and expressed her appreciation for it. We chatted awhile following the service. I trust that was the Holy Spirit's work of conviction in her heart.
3) We had new windows installed in our home and two installers spent two days working in and out of our home. On the first day, I got talking to one fellow, Tom, about his Irish Catholic family background. With that we got on the topic of St Patrick which opened the door to a 40 minute gospel conversation during his break.
Tom failed the 'good person test' with flying gray tones and following the Law and the Gospel, he confessed he saw his need for Christ in a new way. He said he had never heard the gospel explained so simply and appreciated me talking with him about it. On the second day Tom's partner, Scott, walked by our desk that had a few million dollar gospel tracts sitting on it. He took notice and made a joke asking why we lived in such a small house with all those millions sitting around. After the laughter he asked what they were for. Another open door and we spent the next 30 minutes in serious conversation. He expressed sincere appreciation for me having given him "much to think about".
On completion of their installation, these two gentlemen willingly accepted and went home with gospel tracts, a "Why Christianity?" booklet and a Bible.
4) As usual, every delivery person or service person that came to our door in January left with a gospel tract in hand. Every piece of junk mail that made it into our home with a pre-paid postage return envelope had a gospel tract stuffed into it and sent right back from where it came.
5) And in our many rounds of doctor appointments, household and executor related errands, Kim and I handed out gospel tracts everywhere we went. On our last outing, while Kim did the shopping at Home Depot, I just hobbled around with my cane and dropped about 30 gospel tracts in strategic places where customers would easily come across them and pick them up.
With all that had taken place in January in our little world, it would have been a breeze for us to choose to "take a break" from spreading the gospel. We are grateful to the Lord for not allowing us to do so. There is too much at stake.
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