“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not…” 2 Timothy 4:2
Recently, I went for a hike. I was up early, looking to get some exercise and enjoy the fresh morning air. In the moment, I just wanted to be alone for a bit and think and enjoy God’s creation. God had other plans.
I was traveling up this steep climb and came across a man who was interested in chatting with me. To be perfectly honest, I just didn’t really feel like it in the moment. I had come out in this place to be alone with God. Yet, he told me that his father had recently passed and that he was searching for some answers. With a few questions he discovered I was a pastor and a wonderful conversation unfolded between us. This challenging uphill hike afforded us quite a while to be together and for him to share various struggles he had been through in life and his difficulty with trusting in God. By God’s grace, I was able to encourage him, share truth with him, and be present with him in his struggles. Even though he did not have faith in God, he told me, “Sometimes in life I think God sends a Justin your way and you have to have the humility to recognize it.” It was his way of saying he believed God was using me to speak to him.
I was grateful for the opportunity to share with him and said a heartfelt prayer that he would come to know God. Yet, as I mentioned, in the moment, there was a big part of me that wanted to disengage from the conversation and just live for myself.
This encounter was a simple reminder to me, and now I hope to you, that there are opportunities that cross our paths at various times. Sometimes they come at convenient times and sometimes they come at inconvenient times. Sometimes we feel like being used by God and other times we may just want to disengage and check out for a while. But it is such a joy to be used by God and is always worthwhile. So, my encouragement is to engage in those opportunities that God gives you. May God give you the awareness to see them and the belief that God can use you, yes you, when those moments come. All we need to do is be open to God and be available to extend His love and truth to another.