It Happens

I’m a huge nerd and bookworm and a half. Really. One of my favorite places to hang out is B&N or Borders because I can just sit there all night pouring over all different books :) Ah, heaven... Of course, there’s one section in particular where I can almost always be found: Christian Inspiration. What can I say, I like being challenged and inspired by learning more about my wonderful God (and myself at the same time). I figure one can never know enough about 3 things: life, love, and oneself. Therefore, one should seek to know the creator of those things! For the same reason, I can also be found spending hours upon hours at either Lifeway or Family Christian store, spending whatever money I have on Bibles, books, journals, and music.

One particular book I have spent entirely way too much money on is my 2nd all time favorite book (right after the Bible), by one of my favorite authors: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I have long since given away my worn out, thoroughly underlined, starred and highlighted copy of the book, as well as bought a copy for nearly everyone I know. The reason? It’s actually a part of the title: Non-religious thoughts on Christianity. The book is brilliantly written in such a simple, direct and open way that it absolutely disarms all readers from page 1. It’s so real, so raw and deals with such hands off topics that it’s literally a diamond in the rough. It has made me laugh, cry, and left such an impression that I felt compelled to tell everyone I know about it. I have read pretty much all other books by Donald Miller as well, and they are all outstanding, but Blue Like Jazz is a classic.

Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because I picked it up last week while I was in Lifeway, and I flipped through it until I found the part I was looking for. The part my spirit was almost craving to read, needed to see with my own eyes again to feel uplifted, inspired and encouraged... The part where Don’s friends Laura is having a conflict with giving into believing in God and her struggle with the Christian faith, and then her discovery and revelation of Jesus... The email she writes to Don, informing him of her decision to become a Christian never fails to make me choke up. And the way Don later describes what Laura went through, her simple, yet miraculously joyous “conversion” gives hope... It does happen... People do “get saved”. It happened to me, to my girls, to Imani’s co-worker last week, to an atheist Laura, and to countless of others. When they are ready, in their own time, people do come to God, and it’s AWESOME!!!

I randomly stumbled into a GC UD service two weeks ago and heard Pastor Judah speak about not shaking the fruit off the tree, but letting the seed grow, mature and become ripe before letting it fall into your hand. God’s word is good seed. When planted into people’s hearts, it will grow, sprout and then eventually produce fruit, the fruit of repentance, of acknowledging their need for God, and then that’s when salvation comes. No need to force the fruit off the tree before it’s ripe, just relax and go do stuff and live your life while the seed does its work. God saves, I don’t. I can’t, rather. I knew God wanted me to hear that message. The experience of watching someone you love and care about come to know God is euphoric... I want to experience it again rather badly, but meanwhile, I have to wait and let God take care of it in His perfect way and time. I don’t need to convict, convert and convince anyone. God Himself wants to take the credit for His word working, and I think I’ll let Him :)