The Truth about Sharing Your Faith and Rejection
I remember the first time I gave a stranger an Encounters of Hope gift card. If you are new to the site or just stumbled upon us, the cards have real money loaded on them and are activated by watching an interactive video that shares the Gospel message.
I was in the drive thru of a Taco Bell, don’t judge those Mexican pizzas are amazing! After I gave my order, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge my heart to give a card to the cashier and I seriously began to panic. There was still a car in front of me so I didn’t even see the person at the window that I was going to encounter. But that didn’t stop my heart from pounding so hard, I could hear it beating in my ears. I could feel the grips of fear suffocating my voice and putting a serious shake in my hands. I was in the car alone wishing I had a wing woman to offer me some much needed encouragement. Being the all-knowing God that He is, He probably planned it that way so I would have to lean on him and the encouragement that his Holy Spirit would offer me. As the cars began to move up, through faith and a trembling voice, I said something to the effect of “Lord I don’t know what I am going to say, but I need you. I am scared, what if they yell at me? Please help me.” And then it was my turn at the window.
I was met by an older gentleman named Randy who was happy to take my order. I had the gift card ready and was waiting on the appropriate time to hand it over. After he gave me the delicious Mexican pizza, I paused, took deep breath of courage and said “sir, I would like to love my neighbor today,” and I handed him the Encounters of Hope gift card. He was wide eyed with a toothy grin as I explained to him what the card was and how he could activate it. He gave his thanks and I went on my way.
As I drove home, tears filled my eyes; I couldn’t get his smile and the joy from his face out of my mind. It wasn’t about me or the good deed that I had done; it was so much more than that. You see God loves Randy. That is his son. He chose him before he was even born and that day; Christ took the yielded heart of mine to encourage and remind Randy of how very special he is and has always been.
A lot of times, I think people are afraid to share their faith or talk about Jesus for fear of rejection. And I can tell you, I have several more stories like the one I just told you where fear was the hurdle I had to jump over. Fear is a tactic of the enemy to paralyze us from sharing anything about Christ. When entering into a situation that we believe rejection may be a probable outcome, like sharing our faith, fear can seem so real, causing a reaction in our bodies like sweating, shaking, or a racing heart. Lucky for us we have God’s word to combat the devil and his petty schemes. When fear tries to silence your lips from speaking words that bring glory to Jesus, the truth is you have the authority to tell it to leave in Jesus’s name! (Matthew 4:10, James 4:7) It is that simple.
The more I hand out these cards, the more I realize, people aren’t that scary. If I engage in a conversation with someone in public, they are usually happy to have a chat. I can honestly say, out of all the encounters I have had giving out these gift cards, I have never been rejected. Not once. That isn’t to say it won’t ever happen, but the difference now is when fear comes knocking I just don’t answer. I lean in to the Holy Spirit’s help while remembering it is through Christ that I can do all things.
Don’t let fear cause you to miss an opportunity to be a light for Christ. God uses each small step of obedience from us to create “divine moments” in people’s lives to draw them into His presence.
