So today in Starbucks I sat down with a young lady and chatted about many things. Eventually our conversation got around to her spiritual journey. I was shocked to hear her talk about considering in the future getting baptized.
You see when I first met her God wasn't even on the radar. She probably would've have considered herself an atheist or at best an agnostic. Then one day she fractured her vertebrae (she had the x-ray to prove it.) She asked us to pray for her back, so we did. Two days later she had a second set of x-rays showing her back was healed. That scared her, who was this cosmic being and what did he want from her?
Months later, she proclaimed to me that she now believed in the existence of God. How did she come to that conclusion? Well, she had spent the weekend locked in her room avoiding her drunk/high dad and step-mom. Having ample time to think, she realized that she believed her dad would get better some day, even though she had no evidence to back that belief up. She also realized there was more evidence for the existence of a God then for her alcoholic dad to get better. Thus she decided she could believe in a God. I told her that one day she was just gonna wake up and realize she had become a follower of Jesus. She laugh in agreement.
Today we began to unpack what she actually believed about God. As I asked her about God and Jesus and Sin, I realized that she did in fact believe the basic tenants of the Christian faith. She believes that Jesus is God, that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again, that she is a sinner in need of savior.
Her current struggle with God is one we all face daily... CONTROL. She is wrestling with giving Jesus leadership over her life. She recognizes the enormity of that choice and it's consequences and she's not ready yet. I told her that when she was ready to give Jesus control then she was ready to get baptized.
I have had a huge smile on my face all day. I can not believe how far she has come in her journey.
Another great day at Starbucks :)
5 years ago
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Thanks for making me smile a big smile too D. This is SUCH a perfect picture of the reality we live in. The journey, the stories, the process, the relationship, the faith, the questions, the doubts, the power, the joy, the peace, the events, the unfolding. Prayers for a great continuing journey - a real one, a steady one - and some more great things to celebrate as belief becomes love and relationship one glorious step at a time. I hope I can make it to the baptism, put me on the invite list.
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