after lect today, went to eat prata at Fong Seng with Jess, Anggy, Cherlyn and Dawn.
and our discussion somehow led to talking about how each of us started to attend church. As Anggy, Dawn and I shared about our experiences, I was very encouraged by their faith in God and candidness about their own inadequacies. Later, i was even more surprised when Cherlyn and Jess joined in to talk about their own experiences with Christianity.
as i was listening to the Christians' and non-Christians' views on Christianity, i think i begin to see something that i've failed to see in the past. i realised that all along, i have been talking abt how blessed as a Christian i am. n that after becoming a Christian, i seem to have forgotten what it is like before i was a Christian (a taoist). and that is a problem, bcos that means i cannot empathise with non-Christians when they reveal their reasons for not converting. I seem to have lost touch with the non-Christians' circumstances, even thou i have been a non-Christian b4, most of my life.
whenever i hear abt their reasons, i would think to myself, "no, they are wrong, they need to know God for who He really is. and then they will know they are wrong!"
How wrong am i to think this way!!!!
how can i even judge them?
and after that talk, i've realised that in my own eagerness to share God's love with others, i've become less empathetic to the reasons non-Christians give for not wanting to convert. then i will pray for them, share with them abt God, in the hope that they would come to believe in God. Then when nothing happens, i get discouraged, and start to question what have i done wrong. By me getting discouraged, I've missed the whole point of recognising God's timing, for my friends to know Him! I've failed to acknowledged God's sovereignty in bringing His people to Himself. I've been trying to 'convince' people by my own effort, forgetting that conviction comes only from the Holy Spirit (the spirit of God)!
..........
now i think i know. I was wrong for not recognising that everything is done according to God's own timing and perfect will. Yes, God wants people to know Him, but it is God himself who will decide when, how, when and where. not me. not my effort. not my bible knowledge. i dont have the saving power.
Only God has.
i came to this conclusion bcos a few of non-Christians friends actually told me b4 that it is not bcos they don't want to believe in Jesus, it is bcos they don't feel anything and they see no need. as i think back on what they said, yes it is true. They do not see the need for God in their lives, even though they know who Jesus is and what he did on the cross.
and my own salvation only came at a time, not decided by myself. but on God's terms, in God's way and in God's timing. ya. I converted when i was 19. and did i choose to convert at 19? can i even convert myself?
no.
God chose to convict my heart of Jesus's love at 19.
not i choose.
God choose.
and now i understand more fully why some non-Christians are not Christians, and why Christians are Christians.
It's bcos God choses who to be what. and i gotta recognise God's absolute control and sovereignty in that.
No doubt, God loves everyone.
but God also knows who will believe him and who will not.
i do not know how God will bring my non-Christians friends to believe Him. i do not know when.
Only God knows. Only God can.
Jesus answered: No one can come to me unless the Father who sents me draws him, and i will raise him up at the last day. -Jhn 6:43.
Yet there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "this is why i told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." -Jhn v 6:64-65
dear friends (who are not Christians), do not be perplexed about why you do not feel God the way Christians do. It is not a matter of superiority or inferiority (althou it sometimes seems to be that way). To me, the only difference between a non-Christian and a Christian is that one has not known God while the other has. All of us humans are equal before God. God shows no favouritism.
God is in control.
the Jesus i know loves everyone. He died on the cross, for all those who have strayed away from God.
In God's timing, i believe God will bring all men n women to Himself.
there will come a day when every knee will bow and every tongue from every tribe and nation will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
i' m sure God loves every one of u, my non-Christians friends. How do i know? Bcos i've been reminded by God so many times to pray for ur salvation. and i know, only God's love will compel me to do that. bcos i dunno what to pray for. but as i pray, words keep coming to me. so i believe in faith, God will reveal himself to u, in His time, on His terms and in His own way.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." -Eph 2:8-9
grace is God's kindness.
