“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
-2 Corinthians 4:1-6
One of my favorite things to do is to ask students that know Christ when and how they came to know Him as their personal Savior. One reason is because their faces light up every time and they can’t wait to share what God has done in their lives. It’s also always an exciting thing to hear about the power of the gospel at work in the lives of people. So, here are a few examples of souls that have been won and are experiencing new life in Christ:
Magda grew up in the Catholic Church. Her dad passed away when she was 7 years old and her mom took her to the Catholic Church every Sunday. Magda thought that this was all that Christianity or church meant—she went out of obligation and to honor her mom, not because she had any desire on her own. One of her classmates invited her to church one week. In Magda’s own words, her response was, “Are you kidding me? You actually enjoy going to church and even like it enough to invite a friend?” It took Magda’s friend some coaxing before Magda finally agreed to go. She was amazed at what church was like—a band that played fast songs in church? People talking and laughing and enjoying themselves in Church? This was a totally different experience for Magda but it was enough for her to know that there was something much different about this church. It wasn’t just a building with extravagant decorations—these people had something that she didn’t. Magda accepted Christ after only a few months of attending this church. Her next “task” was to convince her mom to come to church. She finally attended this church for the first time a few months ago. Immediately, she asked Magda what was different about this church than the Catholic Church. Magda was glad to tell her, and told me with the same huge smile on her face, “Mom, at the Catholic Church, Jesus is hanging on the cross and you are worshipping someone who is dead. But at our church, Jesus Christ is alive!”
Tereza heard the gospel for the first time 7 years ago. Since that time, all of her Christian friends have been praying for her and waiting for an opportunity to lead Tereza to Christ. After meeting a friend for coffee a few months ago, Tereza finally decided that she didn’t want to wait any longer—she finally surrendered her life to Christ. God lifted the veil that covered her eyes and she was able to see the light of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ! God’s timing, as we know, is absolutely perfect. Not even a month after she came to know Christ, her dad was hospitalized and in a coma. Tereza visited him every single day, prayed for him and read God’s Word to him. Though everyone tried to tell her he couldn’t hear her, Tereza was convinced that God’s Word was still piercing his heart. When he finally woke up, she began talking to him and he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior! He is still in the hospital and likely won’t make it out, but now he will be going HOME to meet his Savior!
Finally, I want to tell you about a beautiful story that is continuing to unfold. Many of you know Martin and know that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of seeing the great things God will do through this young man. For those of you who don’t know him, I will tell you briefly about what God has done in His life. Martin grew up in an Atheistic family—not even any mention of God or a Creator. He was a firm believer in Evolution and a huge advocate of it. Even though his family lived close enough to the church that, in Martin’s own words, he could spit out his window and it would hit the church—and it’s absolutely true! But still, Martin had no knowledge of who God was or that He wanted to have a relationship with Martin. Finally, after being pursued and loved by some of the students in the youth group, God pulled Martin to himself. There’s so many things God has done since that time through Martin—like bringing his older brother Kaja to Christ, sharing his testimony with his entire class, multiple classmates accepting Christ, and Martin leading seminars disproving Evolution and giving evidence of a Creator. Well, last night, we were at a Czech graduation ball. It was loud, most of the people there were completely drunk, and I didn’t think it was possible to have a serious conversation of any sort. Martin came over to me and said, “Well, someone from my school just came over to me and told me he heard that I was a believer and then he asked me to tell him about it.” I was amazed—some kid just came up to you in this hot, smoke-filled building with drunk guys and half-dressed girls and asked you to tell him about your relationship with Jesus Christ? Martin didn’t seem too surprised though—“It’s normal for me. It happens all the time.” Today, Martin and I were talking and the same kid who was completely rejecting Christ only 5 years ago was sitting in front of me telling me that he wants to study Theology so he can teach it to others.
When Jesus Christ is proclaimed, God can lift veils that seem to be much too dark to ever have light shine through them. It’s so easy to begin to focus on all of the people in our lives that still don’t know Christ and begin to lose heart. But, I believe more and more every single day that God can change any heart. Often times, it’s the absolute last person we would expect. Think about Ananias’ response in Acts 9 when the Lord told him to go and heal Saul—“Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.” The last thing he wanted to do was go and help this man who had spent his entire life murdering anyone who followed Christ. But, how did the Lord respond? “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine…” God’s plan for the redemption of His people is far greater than anything we could ever fathom. He could bring all of these people to Himself on His own—and yet, He chooses to use people like you and me. Our only response—even when He tells us to love someone and pray for them for 7 years with seemingly no fruit for our labor—is to say, “Yes, Lord. I believe your gospel is powerful enough to change any heart.”
Praise God that He is the One that lifts veils and not us. Praise God that He could lift those veils all on His own and yet He chooses to use us as His instruments. Praise God for people like Magda, Tereza, and Martin whose lives have been transformed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And PRAISE GOD that He has shone into my heart and your heart so that we can see the light of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because He has shone in my heart,
Emily
