By Elsa A walk, & a question
One evening this week, I took a walk through the city. I passed by people sitting outside cafés, small groups of tourists and their animated tour guides, and street singers. I saw so many different faces—people from all walks of life. It struck me that I carry a message that would be of significance to each one of them.
A message that would be of significance to the homeless person and to the couple in their SUV. A message of relevance to the seeker and to the indifferent, to those suffering and to those comfortable.
As I walked past all these people, the awareness that each one of them is someone God gave everything to save, grew in me. The consciousness that each person is someone God is eagerly waiting for was persistent.
That awareness soon gave rise to a familiar question, one that I’d heard being asked before; “God, since you want them to know you, why won’t appear here and now for all to see?”
A relational God
Shortly after I silently posed that question, these words from Romans chapter 10 came to remembrance. “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?…”1
While God could have made himself known to everyone I saw by simply appearing in his undeniable glory, he has chosen for his people to share his message.
I’m fascinated by this all-powerful God, who desires that those who know him would deepen their relationship with him and allow him to cultivate within them the passion and expression to make his glory known.
God through us
Those who receive the message would then begin their own relationship with God—listening for him and seeking him (though he is not far from any one of us2 ).
They would spend time with him and delight in a relationship, one that would be impossible without Jesus who died so that they could be reconciled to God. And then, the same message they received would overflow from them. They would know a love so deep, a peace so complete, that they wouldn’t help but share it through their unique expressions.
What a beautiful pursuit, what a deep delight— to know him and make him known.
Here we are speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends. 2 Cor 5:20 (GNT)
Sincerely,
Elsa
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