contagious- (adj.): communicable by contact
If there's one thing i've learned, it's that God's love is contagious.
His love is communicable by contact.
By this, I don't mean merely noticeable, but contagious. The Lord is visible through our interactions...He is reflected in this way, through our contact with others. His love is able to be communicated. And what i've noticed is that others can't settle on just seeing His Spirit, they want to know what it's all about. I've always known that, but I've really seen it firsthand this summer. And I know it is God that they are noticing. They are drawn to Him. A mere display of His love is radical. It is not of this world or from this world. It makes a statement, has a presence, and is intriguing. Our God captivates people in a way that only He can...This is how I know...
I was cornered the other day at work.
I had just walked in the
door, coming back after my 30 minute break, and my 3 co-workers were
staring at me. As I clocked back in, I asked them what was up. They
just looked at me, and said, "we've been talking about it, and we want
to know why you are so happy...why do you treat everyone that comes up
to the window to order food like they are your close friend? what makes you like that?"
At that moment, another employee walked in the door and heard the
question that was asked. He looked at me and asked me the same
question along with, "don't you get tired of being cheerful? how do you not get burnt out from all of that?"
I was taken aback. This is the kind of confrontation that I knew could come over time. What was ironic was that my co-workers had no idea that I had gotten less than 5 hours of sleep the night before, was so very sleepy, and was fighting to stay awake. I had been working for 3 or 4 hours at that point, and earlier had spent my 15 minute break on a bench on the Boardwalk with my Bible, searching the Scripture to try to retain little verses of God's truth, praying that His word would liven my heart and give me strength during this shift. It was an 8-hour evening shift that I knew would be busy, draining, and would require energy that I didn't have. On this day, I was dragging. But after spending time with Him on my break... I kid you not, i felt energized. The kind of energy that was not the result of coffee or any other caffeinated product, but rather the power of the Holy Spirit. And my co-workers had noticed it too.
The cool thing was, at this moment I had the opportunity to share the most important thing in the world with my co-workers. God had opened a door.
"Jesus." That's all I said. "It's the Lord."
I found out later that this answer led to spark further discussion on a following day between some of my other co-workers and a friend of mine here with me on Summer Project.
There is nothing that i can do or say that will/can convince someone
to believe in Jesus. My words can't do it. It is absolutely imperative
that I rely on the Holy Spirit...it is only God who can change
hearts.
I was reminded the other night that God works
through our weakness-- He delights in using ordinary people to display
His glory. So often I feel like my weaknesses get in the way of His
work and that I fail Him by not fulfilling witness or "doing things the
right way". But our God is sovereign over everything. And He uses us even when we don't feel like we can be used.
So, in summary:
1) it's not me. I am just like every other college student working a summer job. I'm out of school for the summer, and i'm working a minimum wage job in food service... nothing glorious. nothing out of the ordinary.
2) it's not something i've done. Again, i'm just like everyone else. I mess up. I make mistakes. At work, I fill the wrong orders. I forget to the give the customer their change before the register closes, or don't have the right answers to the hundreds of questions i'm asked daily. I get frustrated when customers can't make up their mind, or when the line grows. My patience dwindles. On most mornings, you can catch me running to work. I'm not always on time.
But praise the Lord for God's unending faithfulness-- and for Jesus....for the way that He bore all of my weaknesses, all of my shortcomings, all of my failings... on the cross. He paid the penalties for those. Jesus came so that all of my imperfections would not separate me from God, but so that His perfection could take the place of my shortcomings and so that it would be possible for me to have a relationship with God.
I am thankful to be able to live this life knowing Him. I am thankful to be able to share this Good News with others. I am thankful that His Spirit is contagious, and that He is working in the hearts of people everywhere. And more than anything, I am thankful for a God whose love for me & you is more than I can handle...more than I can comprehend.
I cannot wait to share with you more stories of God's incredible work here in Santa Cruz...my heart is overflowing.
Thank you, Lord...You are so so good.
