I met with a friend of mine on Friday afternoon. He wanted to share with me that he was having a conflict in a relationship because of differing beliefs. His friend has a different worldview of who God is and how we can relate to Him. She believes that everyone will eventually make it to heaven and that other religions pray to and worship the same God he does.
My friend was struggling with this and had tried to point her to Jesus and the Bible. He felt like he wasn’t getting anywhere though. I told him to not force it. God does the work of drawing people to Him. I told him to pray for her and give her some resources like a Bible that is easy to read and understand, a series from NewPointe Community Church called “Reality Check” and maybe a book like “A Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel.
The exciting thing to me is that his friend is listening and searching for truth. I believe when someone sincerely want to find truth, God draws them to Jesus, because Jesus is truth. I told my friend that he has influence with her and can be an encouragement or a stumbling block for her.
Sometimes we can come on too strong and try too hard to convince someone we are right. Instead we need to share truth in a loving way. Not judgemental or holier than thou. My friend really cares about this person and that is why he is so concerned about her understanding. If he can be patient and pray diligently for her, God will draw her in and open her eyes to the real truth.
So, who do you have influence with? Who are you praying for and reaching out to? If you don’t have anyone, start asking God to bring a person into your life that you can invest in. Make yourself available to be used by God. He may use you to draw someone closer to Him. Pray for open doors in your life and see what happens.