WATCHWORD:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Meditation:
Elephant in the Room
As Christians, we know that we should not be afraid to share our experience of faith and the gospel. People will not know about Christ by how we live our lives. It is important that we talk and proclaim the good news. We don’t always have the right words in any given circumstance. There are times when we know that what we know is going to lift that person beyond the cares and concerns they are experience. That is where our faith must carry us. We need to be God’s workers on earth and help bring people to the truth.
Seven years ago, I wrote and posted an essay on grief that contained this paragraph:
“Many years ago, as a college dean, I sought to comfort an older student who had witnessed the accidental death of her 7 year-old son. As I stood in line at the funeral home, I wondered what could I possibly say to this grieving mother? In front of me was the Campus Pastor who did and said all the right things. The hug, the quite murmurs of sympathy, and then, to my surprise, he began to speak of the young boy and what a blessing he had been in her life. He didn’t avoid the subject. The elephant was in the room but it didn’t matter! Her son was honored by the remembering conversation. The brief conversation did not ally her grief, but it mattered to her.”
A different scene – Two close friends, sitting at a backyard picnic table, telling tales, sipping wine, and sharing. One friend was just weeks from the loss of his wife, the grief was there on his face, his trust in God was absent or merely hidden. The other friend had been down that same road years before in the loss of his wife, his trust in God had clearly gotten him through the worse part of his loss. He had great affection for the other man and wanted to share his faith, yet the other had, in the past, resisted, but now he was experiencing a great loss of his own, and faith could help carry him through.
Maybe God has put you in that same position in the past, or perhaps he will be leading you into a similar conversation. You know the power of your faith, how it had led you through the most trying and difficult time of loss. You know that faith had granted you calmness as you experienced the love of Christ. That’s a palpable thing in your life and you want your friend to know it and to experience it.
How? That is your elephant in the room. You do not want to proselytize because you know that would turn the other off. The most powerful tool that you have in this one to one conversation is that your friend knows you’ve been through this loss and now it is time to talk about the elephant…your faith. There are times in our Christian walk where we’ve got to break ground, or go in a direction that requires courage. Either way you have to help of the Holy Spirit within you; trust him, rely upon him. It is your story. If your friend knows it, remind him, if he doesn’t, inform him. Your story can lift him up. Your story can plant an important seed that can open the door to faith in God. So be it.
Gentle Reminder:
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Psalm 37:7
Closing Prayer:
Father God, You shower the lilies of the field with beauty and feed the birds of the air. Build my faith to depend on You entirely for every need and not on the things of this world or my strength and abilities. Not one day can be added to my life through worry. As my heavenly Father, You know what I need and You provide for all my cares. Help me to trust You to care for me. Amen.
