Bless Me

I remember a time in my life, several times in fact, when I wondered what in the world God was doing in my life. Why was I going through such mental anguish, feeling so isolated and alone? I knew Romans 8:28, in which God promises to work all things together for the good, but I just wasn’t seeing it at the time.

At some point in this journey, I read a book that talks about the above verse. I devoured it as if it would solve all my problems. It was a good book. But the problems were still there.

I remember another time, more recent, when I realized that pretty much all of the people I knew personally were Christians. As a Christian, I wanted to know more people, people who didn’t know Jesus, whom I could seek to genuinely be like Jesus to. As an extremely shy person, I didn’t see how this could happen.

Life goes on. Through a series of circumstances that I was not expecting, I have more close friends today, a couple of whom do not know Jesus. One in particular, believes God might exist but we can’t be sure. As I have gotten to know this friend, I have been praying I can show him Jesus without trying to force it. As I have prayed, I have felt God saying, “Just be who you are and let me do the rest.”

I was talking to this friend and another a few days ago, and half jokingly remarked that I was the “good influence” in the group. The second friend asked the first friend if that was true. The friend who is not sure God exists said, “I have no idea.” That bothered me, so I prayed about it.

Recently, this same friend and I were having some very deep conversations over text. I asked if I could ask him a very personal question. He said, “anything.” I took that as a fantastic compliment. A sign of trust. A few texts later, he remarked that I must have developed the ability to be empathetic and non-judgmental through experiencing difficulties and judgments myself. I realized that he was right and told him so, but I also told him that I was following the example of Jesus. He then gave me the greatest compliment he could have: “You set a good example.”

It was then that I understood why I have gone through such difficult things, so that my territory would be enlarged and I could be a blessing to others, and point them to Jesus.

Dear Father, thank you from the bottom of my heart that you turn heartache into blessing. Help me be faithful to let you reach others through me.

Throughout this day: How can the difficulties in your life help you point others to Jesus?

Here is a song inviting others to know Jesus: Anne Wilson - Living Water (Official Music Video)