i am a tool

Well it’s true I am a tool.  Hopefully not by worldly standards but by God’s measurement.  I what Jesus says in the book of Matthew about the harvest.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of 

the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  -Matthew 9:37-38

I had a realization a few weeks ago.  I was downtown on a Friday night to share Jesus with people who were clubbing.  I was able to witness to a few people and continue to build friendships with familiar faces.  That Friday was unique because there was a high school dance type thing to raise money for some sort of recycling program or solar panels.  This was held in a club Epic on 5^th street and 2nd Ave.  The dance got over at 12 a.m. and soon after hundreds of high schoolers flooded the streets.  This was a crazy sight to see because kids aging from 14 to 18 were dressed far more inappropriate than people who normally are downtown Fridays.   Beside this there was just something different about this Friday night than any other.  When I go evangelize I enjoy having a partner for support.  This particular Friday night I couldn’t find anyone to go with me so I hit the streets alone.

The realization I had was that I could be one of the only professing Christians amongst thousands of non-believers.  This is the reason why I said I am a tool.  The point of this entire experience is this: It’s not your ability that counts; it’s your availability.

Around 12:30 my brain was satisfied with the job I had done but that’s not what God had for me.  I felt like God was telling me that He needed to use me more.  For the next 20 minutes or so I just walked around praying.  

I believe that spiritual gifts are alive and present in the modern church today.  I don’t believe they were just for the apostle Paul or Peter to use but they can be used by Christians today, given by the Holy Spirit.  I say this because before I started walking back to NCU I had a vision.  I saw I was going to talk to a woman somehow with blond hair outside of the center of downtown.  A vision is like in the TV show LOST where in an episode Desmond kept seeing into the future that Charlie was going to die so he saved him.   I started walking back and about half way there was this couple that was following me.  I was walking slower than them so they eventually passed me.  A few blocks later I caught up with them next to HCMC hospital.  As soon as I realized that the woman had blond hair they stopped me and asked me for directions to a hotel.  They were from Iowa and were up in the Cities for a graduation party.  I told them where to go and I simply said God Bless you guys, have a good night.  I never said the word Jesus to them all I said was God Bless.  I really felt like this was all that was needed to be said, that I could trust God to do a good work in her and bring it to completion. 

There really isn’t any glamour to this story.  I didn’t lead anyone to Christ as far as I know and I didn’t even have as many conversations as I normally have.  What I think happened to this blond haired women was all she needed to hear was God Bless.  She could have been praying to God to reveal Himself to her at 1:15 a.m. and because I was a tool available for use, God used me and I obeyed. 

What I want you to take from this simple story is if you are available for use God will use you.  You don’t have to know the Bible back and forth or be majoring in Evangelism for God to use you.  If you are like me and happen to ever be amongst thousands of non-believers, trust me, God will use you.  He will use you in the workplace, in the classroom, on the light rail, or wherever.  You just have to be available for use.  So if you ever feel a tug on your heart to go talk to that coworker or acquaintance or even offer prayer for them just do it.  You may feel like you don’t know what to say or didn’t pray fluently like your pastor does, God will use whatever you give Him.  Are you available for God to use you?

It’s not your ability that counts; it’s your availability.

God Bless!