I was reminded of many things as I witnessed to Amanda. The first is that God is always sovereign in providing opportunities for us to proclaim His name. The second is that those opportunities can come in unexpected places. The third is that sometimes sharing the gospel is especially easy- and sometimes the people that God chooses to sovereignly place in our paths are the ones that we are the easiest for us to evangelize.
I was sitting by the wave pool at the local water park watching my family’s pile of towels. The only available chairs were sandwiched between a few chair occupied by other people’s things. I sat down to get started on my sunburn (another story for another time) when 15-year-old Amanda plopped down next to me. She was a tomboy to say the least. We started chatting, and it turned out that she races dirt bikes. I could tell she was a tough country girl.
We chatted about racing (well- I asked questions- I didn’t know the first thing about racing). We also chatted about the brown recluse bite that was bandaged over on her leg. Of course, her somewhat daring lifestyle was the slightly cracked window that I worked open to turn the conversation towards matters of eternity.
Amanda was very open. She believed in heaven and hell and seemed interested in the questions I was asking her about eternity. Her thought was that though she has broken God’s law (by her own admission), God would forgive her. We talked about how a Just Judge (Psalms 7) cannot forgive people for free. When I gave her the courtroom analogy, she was quick to say she wouldn’t let someone pay her fine. I told her that was ok in a human court, but that the debt we owe because of sin is not a debt we can pay. It took a perfect sacrifice- Jesus.
I gave her a tract to take home and pray that she takes the time to read it. I want her to understand God’s forgiveness, but I first hope she begins to understand repentance and faith in Jesus alone.
This situation was a reminder that God will use us anywhere. If we live our lives viewing each person as either saved or lost, we will never be at a loss for someone to evangelize. I am so thankful that God let me talk to Amanda. I did not have to go looking. In His sovereignty, He took a country girl three hours from her house and placed her in the chair next to me.
Entrusted With 