If God Is Sovereign, Why Should I Share My Faith?

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If you want to share your faith but you're confused about why evangelism matters if God is already in control, this conversation is for you. Pastor Tim and Ella wrestle honestly with God's sovereignty, predestination, grief, and the pressure we can put on ourselves to “get it right.”

In this episode:

• Why God's sovereignty doesn't make sharing the gospel pointless
• Why another person's salvation isn't ultimately something you accomplish
• How to move from Christian guilt toward prayer, relationship, and God's invitation

Tim walks through predestination, Arminianism, Scripture, and J.I. Packer's Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God—but the conversation keeps coming back to the real stuff of life: grief, people we love, and what faithful evangelism actually looks like.

Want people who will know your name and walk with you as you keep asking big questions? Find your place to belong at First Pres above.

Chapters:

00:27 When theology becomes personal

02:06 “Could I have done more?”

06:37 If God already knows, why evangelize?

12:22 Predestination vs. Arminianism

17:36 Why we still share the gospel

25:32 From Christian guilt to God's invitation

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Does God already know who's saved? Does God predetermine who's saved and who's not saved? And if so, why am I out there, you know, sharing the gospel?

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Hey y'all, welcome to the Light in Life Podcast. I'm Ellen. I'm here with Pastor Tim.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Hey Ella.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

So excited to be here. I am the marketing manager here at FirstPres. And Tim and I actually just talked about evangelism in our last episode. And so we are here to take it a little bit further and talk about the sovereignty of God and let's go theological. Yeah, really light stuff today, man. So excited.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Love it.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Um, well, it's something I think that this is such an important conversation to have. I find myself struggling with this a lot, especially recently. Um, you know that I have um I had an uncle who was really close to my family, like lived with us growing up, was very, I don't even think like the word uncle does his him justice. Really part of the family. Yeah, really core family. And he passed away um four years ago from an overdose. And he was really young, it was out of the blue.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

And um wasn't he kind of almost your age? Like no, he was older.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Like he was older, yeah. He was like late 30s.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

And so um, or 40s, maybe early 40s. Um and so he was younger, but still like was very much involved in our lives and in every way. And so I think that when we talk about like the sovereignty of God, especially when it comes to grief, it's so it makes me so emotional, I think, because I thought, I think before he died, it was more like, oh, you know, he's not a Christian, um, but he'll have time, you know, God will God will get him, you know, he he'll come to the Lord.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

And so now that he passed away, I think I find myself wondering if there was something more that I could have done. And so then when you have the whole predestination conversation, it just gets so confusing and hard to wrestle with. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Like where is uh where is my loved one? Um what uh should I have done? What what should I have done differently? What did I miss, you know, an opportunity to share the gospel or something like that?

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yeah. Yeah, these I mean we th we joke about, oh, let's talk theology, but the truth is that um theology matters and that the uh you can go about it in an academic way of let's let's line up these um key verses, these key scriptures, these key passages, come to a historic contextual understanding, derive theological principles out of them, measure those principles, come up with an academic theory, argue about that in the classroom. But the truth is that what we want to know is where's my brother, where's my loved one, where's my uncle?

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Um, how does this all play out? And am I doing it well? Am I did I do what I needed to do?

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah, right. Like did I fail? Yeah, did I fail? Um and then also trusting that the Lord didn't fail. Like I we don't know what he you know what Heath experienced in his last moments. Like you know, so it's also like trusting the Lord and not doubting him and that.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, I have a friend who last week um just uh walked me through the story of his brother, and his brother was uh military and um combat, uh actually actually a training injury, addicted to oxy, yeah, uh led to other addictions, other mental health issues. Um and uh and he just kept uh praying for him, praying for him, praying for him. And he said, I and I had this, you know, I could I could tell God exactly what was gonna happen. Right, right, right. I've got this great plan, here it is, Lord. And it he said, I it's like I wrote it down, put it on the desk, slipped it in front of God, and said, Now sign that, you know. This is the plan. He's gonna get free of his addiction, and he's gonna be a great testimony to your goodness and faithfulness. Didn't happen, didn't happen. He got in an accident, broke his back, wound up in a wheelchair, and uh didn't happen. He said, No, this testimony is gonna be even better because he's gonna get healed and um didn't happen, didn't happen. They found his brother uh dead. And um and and then he found uh some some notes, some journals uh where his brother was expressing coming home to the Lord and coming to peace with the Lord um right before he he he his life was lost. And um so it's I just say that to say um what this stuff like where where we are theologically, it just comes home in such a different way when we're standing over a grave. And it's not just an academic exercise. This is about this is life and death matters.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Um so who's in charge of salvation? Sov Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Woo!

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Woo!

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

How about this? I'm gonna make a book recommendation.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Oh gosh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

J.I. Packer.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

And the book, it's only about 90 pages. It's an easy read. And the title of the book is Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

No way.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Done. Podcast over.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Sorry, guys. Good night.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Click in the link below. It'll be on your doorstep by the afternoon. But um, that's evangelism and sovereignty of God. So we say, okay, well, we're supposed to share the gospel. It's it's I feel like it's my responsibility. Like you you volunteer with Young Life. I've been Young Life Ministry, I'm a pastor, it's my responsibility. I'm a Christian. I know that Jesus said, This is what you're gonna do between the time that I go up and I come back down, you're gonna make disciples, you're gonna share the gospel, you're gonna lead people to know me for eternal life. Um, am I doing what I'm supposed to do in that? And on this range, when you talk about the sovereignty of God, you're you're starting to enter into this question of predestination.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Does God already know who's saved? Uh does God predetermine who's saved and who's not saved? Yeah. And if so, then what's this exercise? If I'm why am I out there, you know, sharing the gospel?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

If he already knows.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

If he already knows. And uh and I'll tell you, I've been down tracks theologically with some folks that um that would read the Westminster Confession to understand that you'll never know whether someone is is saved or not uh by any measure until we get to the kingdom. And so there's some people who are, you know, living their whole lives devoted to Christ, and at the end of time, we're gonna find out, oh, they're they were not not actually predestined for salvation. And other people that are just absolute terrorists and and they're gonna, you know, we're gonna figure out, oh, okay, those they're predestined for yeah. And so there's like there's extremes.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Um, and uh so recently in in a sermon, I was uh I sort of preached through four different uh positions on the presentation of the gospel and the sovereignty of God. One being uh what I would call hardline Calvinist double predestination.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Okay, that's a mouthful.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Yeah, which is which when I say Calvinist, it actually developed after Calvin.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

But this would be the the idea that God has predetermined both the saved and the damned.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

That God before time created two uh races of man of humanity, one for eternal damnation and one for eternal salvation. And it's all predetermined before you know anything even begins. And that he um basically says, uh, I have predestined the damned so that those predestined to glory can understand how great a gift it is that they have been predestined to glory. Now it won't go deep into this, you can go back to the sermon text, but there's a there's one passage in Romans that uh that's that gives you that idea in Romans 10, uh, where God is is described as a potter, and and Paul says to the Romans, well, what if uh God uh created some pots for some use and some pots for other use, some pots for use that is, you know, um not so wonderful, and other pots for use that is really glorious. And what if God did that? And uh my point of view is that Paul wasn't saying that that's what God's doing. He was saying that if that's if God did that, you would still need to be in a position of saying, well, God's God and I'm not, and I just have to trust what his decisions are. Um the next sort of view is what's just called predestination. Yeah. Which is the view that if you ask the question, does God know who's saved? Um, that God is not in a position of wringing his hands, wondering what's going to happen in the end. God is not in the position of um people often use the phrase of a jilted lover who is uh looking to draw someone to go to the dance with them, and it's just you know, sweaty palms, uh nervous, waiting to see uh is she gonna show up or not? Like that's just not who God is.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

So in some way we have to recognize that God, in his sovereignty, which is beyond our understanding, he knows. He knows. And the the chosen, the elect, the race of salvation, the people that are that are his children, uh, he knows. The next sort of category is um, and has destined them for salvation. Right. And has has called them, has saved them, will glorify them. Uh, and you don't have to worry about your salvation being dependent on your behavior, your choices, your merits, uh, because it's all motivated by God's grace and God's love.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

But that leaves us with questions. Like, if you chose so many. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

So I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Because you're like, yeah, I mean you're like head nod, head nod, head nod, totally makes sense from everything I know about who God is and how God could never be out of control.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Um, and uh could never be like this frustrated, um, you know, out of control figure. Uh it just doesn't make sense. So so that all makes sense from the perspective of I think that makes sense. That's the character of God, that's who God is, that's what that's what's been revealed of God, his majesty, his power, his sovereignty, his grace, his mercy. Um, but what about these people that are not chosen?

SPEAKER_03 11:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

To not choose them is to damn them. And so how do I understand that, Lord? Well, some people, you know, said, well, there's got to be some measure of personal responsibility in response to God's offer of salvation, so that they are uh when they wind up separated from God for eternal damnation, that's because of their of their own decision.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

That's their responsibility. Right. Not God's responsibility.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

And I think that's a really important thing to note, because I think when we're talking about predestination, I think that when people hear that word, that's what they think. Is that God is like, nope, these are my chosen people, I've chosen them because you know, this and that and the other. Yeah. And so it's really encouraging to hear, I think, in in that way, that it's not it's it's our decision, you know, it's their decision.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

And somehow there's and so you you get this wave, and this is the wave between Calvinism and Arminianism. And some people will go like hard hard on this wave. I think for me personally, I think you've got to live right in that little line in between those two, because um predestination is saying, look, uh it's not dependent on your choice, and that leaves you open to to this uh this sort of charge that, well, you're making God out to be someone who damns, you know, all the you know, by not selecting them. Well, um, but Arminianism, it's called, which is that next sort of step over, yeah, says, well, God gives you enough grace to make the decision, but the decision is yours. It's called prevenient grace.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Oh, gotcha. Okay. So I was a little confused. No, I haven't heard of it.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

And so um God gives you enough, but then you're the one making the decision with God's help. And uh the problem with that is there's so much scripture that's like like Ephesians 2, I was dead in my trespasses and sins. And so it's so you're saying, well, if I was dead in my trespasses and sins, if I'm dead, I'm not making decisions about anything.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

I'm dead. And and it's by God's grace that I was called into life. And so that's where you sort of like you waver back and forth, like predestination, Arminianism. And then there's those who were just uh are in the camp of just look, the gospel is proclaimed, you make a decision, up or down. Yeah, you know, yes or no. And if if you say yes to Jesus, you're in heaven. If you say no, no to Jesus, you're in hell, it's it's all your decision. You you make your own pick. And uh, and that also just doesn't there's so much scripture that just that that doesn't make sense. So um so when you talk about the sovereignty of God and salvation, you're talking about a mystery that uh that cannot be fully penetrated by our systems of logic. And say that confidently because for 2,000 years, the greatest of minds, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

And they're still in these camps where they cannot untwist this this mystery, right, this dichotomy. And so um ultimately where I come down is that uh I think there's a a a dynamic of God's interaction with individuals that is somewhere on that line of predestination Arminianism.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

And I don't get kicked out of the Presbyterian church for saying anything too like free willy, but um but but but uh it's gotta be somewhere in there. But the truth is the perspectives of scripture that we get reflect our experience of being saved, which is on the way in, it looks like I'm making a decision. And once I've come to the Lord and I look back, I realize that decision was a lot more like Jesus reaching down and pulling me out of the ocean next to the sinking Titanic than me like walking down a shopping aisle, being like, Should I take Jesus or not Jesus? Yeah, um, you know, Jesus or Jesus free? I'll take I'll take double Jesus. Um it's so you you're coming down in in the direction towards Jesus, and it's important, I think, that we're saying to one another, make your decision. Like we're saying, like, come to the Lord. Even Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, it's like God is reconciling the world to himself in Christ Jesus his son. Like, whoa, okay, so God's got the whole thing in his hands. And then the end of that, he's like, therefore, be ye reconciled unto God. Like, whoa, that's that's like, okay. So on the way, we we've got to be encouraging each other, yeah, be reconciled to God. Say yes to Jesus. Say yes to Jesus, open your heart to his grace. But in the same time, we look back and realize, oh my gosh, the Lord ripped me out of total destruction. I was helpless, I was lost.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Yeah, that's so good. And I think it's really helpful to hear like predestination versus what was the uh Arminianism. I remember you would say that word. Yeah. Um no, I haven't. And it's funny because I've you know, took a lot of theological um classes and um at college and maybe I just didn't remember it. But I think it's really helpful to hear what it is because it feels very ambiguous, um, where people kind of throw these big words around and then don't explain it, right? Yeah. And so then you're like, okay, yeah, that sounds good to me.

SPEAKER_04 16:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

Um but it's and so I think from what I'm hearing you say is that no matter what you believe, like sharing the gospel is like what we're supposed to be doing.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Right. And so if we if you go back to J.I. Packer, uh evangelism and the sovereignty of God, uh, he's in a predestination position.

SPEAKER_04 17:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

And uh and his point is um we share the gospel because we're called to participate in God's act of salvation, his mysterious work of salvation.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

That's so good.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

And so one of the primary motivations for sharing the gospel is we want to be a part of what God is doing.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

And he has um commanded and directed us uh for his glory and our well-being. Every command of God is for his glory and our well-being. I mean, we've come on, just put that down and carry that around for a little while. Because that we have to hold you have to hold remember that, remember that, remember that. Every command of God is for his glory and my well-being. Okay, so the Lord said in the Great Commission, go and make disciples of all nations.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

So he said, Go and share the gospel. Uh he said, lead people to me. Um, well, uh, that's gotta be then for his glory and for my well-being, for my good. And so um evangelizing is for our good as develop and as we develop in more into the likeness of Christ and live a full life that he's given us. This is part of it. It doesn't look like it to us because it's awkward, but there's something rich in it that we get to be a part of. So in God's sovereignty, he's including us in his work of salvation. The other thing that that understanding of evangelism does is you can turn around and say, however, it's not on you ultimately. When your loved one has passed and you think, did I do enough to convince them of the truth of Jesus Christ?

SPEAKER_03 19:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Did I do enough to share the gospel? Well, it it really is up to God. And you have no idea what God did in those last moments or did with um uh the all the ways that God was revealing himself to that person in love, and uh you don't know what happened in the final moments, you don't know what happened in their in their childhood. You know, one of the things that I I reiterate is um uh a doctrine called the perseverance of the saints, which is that what that means is um that once you know Jesus, you're one of his sheep, and he never forgets your name. And he is the good shepherd who has never lost a single one of his sheep.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Now, has now some of those sheep did he meet in the second grade and they they know him and love him in the second grade, and then they spent the whole rest of their life running off into the woods being ridiculously disobedient? I think yes. Yeah, but Jesus is the good shepherd, he doesn't lose them, even when they go on these grand journeys far away from his his love and his grace, uh, he's not gonna lose them. And so you can have some confidence that was there any moment in their life when they were at home with the Lord that the Lord knew them. Um so it's not up to it's not up to you, like how many people did you lead to Jesus? Right. It's it's kind of that's not the kind of direction we want to go.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Yeah. No, I think that's so good. And there's so much peace. I think when you're you know dealing with grief, those big questions come up and you're like, is God good? Why did you know he let this happen? And then being reminded, like, no, like, yeah, his his sheep are not lost. Right. He has every single one of them.

SPEAKER_04 20:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

And um I think that there's yeah, it just it reminds me of um the goodness and the hardships.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Yeah. And the goodness of goodness and grace of God that's beyond our understanding. I mean, you don't know somebody's whole story.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

You don't know what their walk with God was like. Um now I have done pro I've done a lot of of funerals, memorial services, remembrances. Um I g and I I typically, you know, someone say, Oh, this is a tough person. I mean, they've been far from the church for a long time. And we would find that that season in their life where it did where they did feel at home with the Lord. And we would emphasize that. Gosh, I had one family though that sat down and just said, You're gonna do this memorial service, Pastor. We don't want to hear a single positive thing about this man. This was a horrible man. He was terrible, he was terrible as holy. Oh my god. It was like I was like, oh my gosh, what what what what are we gonna do? Yeah. And so I we just led a service, I mean, I led a very liturgical service, and I just shared about what Jesus did to save. And uh and we but they were really adamant like you are not going to say nice things about this man. Holy smokes! I guess he was a real bad guy.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

But um where was I going with that? But we get we get this in evangelism, we kind of want to have a lot of um a lot of notches on our belt. We want to have a lot of like um, how many people have you led to the Lord? Um and in pastoral ministry, this leads to those moments of I want to go to that event and I want to call for salvation, and I want people to come forward and show, and I want to show it there's 125 hands that that came to the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Um now uh J.I. Packer in Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God would say the reason why not to do that is that that quickly becomes both addictive and it reinforces the idea that this is a human act.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

And so a lot of times in our church, uh I will I will call for salvation, I will go down to be reconciled to God, you know?

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Sun's going down, you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. Yeah, right. Can you feel the no uh you know, turn or burn?

SPEAKER_02 23:24

Absolutely. Let's get it going.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Let's go. Um, but uh but I don't really do a turn in your card or raise your hand or or come forward um because I trust that this is God doing this in your life and your story. I want to be a part of that.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Really happy to be part of that. Really want you to know that you're helped and loved through this moment, uh, which can feel like a real disorienting crisis moment. Um but this is not about me accomplishing your conversion or our church accomplishing your conversion. This is about salvation that the Lord is bringing.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Yeah. Yeah. What would you what would be your encouragement then um to somebody who is struggling with this, who's like, okay, predestination, gospel. Um yeah, what how would you encourage like somebody like my age? Because I when I hear that, I'm like, there's so much to think about. Um and I think my first gut thought is just to go back to relationship with others.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

But what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Yeah, that's such a good question. And um because it's it's easy to say, okay, well, God's in charge of it, so I just won't, you know, I just won't do this.

SPEAKER_03 24:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Um, I'll concentrate on some other part of Christian development. Um, you know, I'll I'll uh concentrate on discipleship and learning and growing and put your headphones in. I'll put my headphones in. I'll listen to podcasts and sermons instead of talking to non-believers or something. And um, geez, that sounds really like that's really targeted. Was that really targeted?

SPEAKER_04 25:14

Hey, I didn't say you did.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Yeah, I know it's true. It's like, well, God's in charge of it. Um, so we need to remember that we've been called to participate in this for God's glory and for our good. And uh, do I understand totally what happens? Um, no, but do I hope that I can be a part of seeing many people come to know the Lord? Oh I mean, I think if ever you've been a part of it, it's such a joy. Uh there's so much um joy in it that you do just feel drawn, like, Lord, I want the next invitation. And again, I go back to last time we were talking. Um I want the invitation from the Lord, not the push from Christian guilt. Right. So I want uh I want to be with my my AirPods out at the gym, like Lord, is there somebody that you want me in a conversation with? And now I'm praying.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

Simple as that.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Simple as that.

SPEAKER_04 26:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Well, simple as that, but also like, if yes, then I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

That's the harder part.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

What is that? Okay, this is a question I might be a little bit off topic, but what to you when you say that the Lord is talking to you and the Lord says yes, what does that push like? What is that push? What does that feel like? Because I have friends who are like, oh, I had this dream and the Lord like said like spoke to me in the middle of the dream, and I'm like, I've never had that experience. So what for you, and I think that this you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like that this might be different from for everybody. But yeah, what does it look like for that what yeah, what does it feel like for that push to happen?

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Yeah, for me it's real easy because like this divine PA system just comes on and this really deep voice goes, damn, go speak to that person.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

I knew it.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Say, do you own a Volkswagen? And so I that's what I do.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Dang it.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

So Okay, cool. That hasn't happened for you.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

That's awesome. I'm gonna go leave now.

unknown 27:20

Just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Yeah, that's so rare, right? Dreams and visions, and oh, they're wonderful. Audible voices, even more rare. But usually it's an impulse. It's like a a slightly external tug. And um and you have to explore it. Right. Like, was this uh a curiosity of my psychology? Um, or was this the Lord you know, trying to get me to follow up on that conversation or to talk to that person? Yeah, or to to to take this walk uh with an open mind of who I'm gonna bump into and just wait and watch and see. And the place I come back to is the parable that Jesus told of the talents, of uh giving three different figures, three different amounts of money to work with, and and uh you know, you remember this uh one guy like ten times it, one guy doubled it, and one guy buried it in the sand. And uh, but what Jesus says coming out of the back of that is you were faithful with a little, I'm gonna have you be faithful over much. Because you've demonstrated that you'll you'll say yes to me when I prod you on the little things, so now I'm gonna prod you on bigger things. That's how I take that. And so being trying to spend some time with the Lord listening, and when he prods you or prompts you, trying to be in a yes posture. Like, even if it's the dumbest little thing. It's like, no, get up and walk your dog. Yeah, don't go that way, go this way. Like, is this from the Lord? Well, what does it matter? Let me try it, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:08

Like, what does it matter? Instead of that park open.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Because maybe it is from the Lord, and I'm gonna pray and be open, and then wham, bam, I'm talking to some I'm in this conversation with some neighbor.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Um, I really believe that that's that that's how the Lord is training us. So this could be another episode, yeah, but how do you how do you recognize anyone's voice? Right. You recognize their voice through familiarity. So the first thing is, are you spending enough time in the scriptures to recognize the voice of Jesus, your shepherd?

SPEAKER_03 29:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

And are you spending enough time in prayer? But then the second aspect is, you know, I really believe that Jesus is like, if I tell you to be faithful in um taking your walk this direction instead of that direction, or in turning your radio off for the next 20 minutes, or in turning your radio on for the next 10 minutes, if I tell you to be faithful in these little things and you don't do it, well then why would I tell you to do anything else?

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

To do anything else.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

And that's so good.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Um I don't know if that's exactly how it works, but I just believe that when we when we follow obediently the Lord's promptings and little things, he opens up bigger windows. Right. And my prayer for folks that are thinking about evangelism or wanting to be in these conversations is uh that they would just not feel the guilt of the push, but they would be looking for the invitation of the draw of Jesus that says, come over here and open up a conversation and be a friend and share your heart and watch what happens.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

That's so good.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Praise God.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Yeah. Well, thanks so much. This is a great conversation.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Thanks for being a listener. I feel like I talked a lot on this one.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

No, it's great. I feel like I need to like take it all in and digest it now.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Yeah, thanks for that.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

It's a lot of good thought.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Appreciate you being our host today and absolutely the Light and Life podcast community. Hang in there and get out there and share your heart with a friend.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

Awesome. Thanks, guys.