What's your response time?

Listen along here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/305d18dd/whats-your-res...

What’s your response time? Luke, #6

Back to the light show in the skies above Bethlehem that night, when the shepherds were the first ones to be told that the Savior had been born. Once the men had the news, they reacted immediately.  They went – in fact, Luke tells us - they hurried to see what the angels announced to them that night.

Check it out: “When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.”1  Luke 2.15-20

What’s your response time?  When God shows you something--especially from his Word, do you act on the information?  (you know - like the shepherds did--straightaway and in a hurry?!)

All of us, you see, have been positioned for action, underscore all of us.

Just before Jesus ascended to Heaven, he charged those standing nearby him: Be my witnesses.2  'Go on,' Jesus said – 'near and far, tell them what you know to be true about Me, and who I am meant to be in their lives.'  

For years now, those words of Jesus have been my clarion call, my rally cry, my call to action.  They motivate me to ask God to give me opportunities for conversations I can turn toward Him.  'Seems airplanes and airports make great settings for such.  Today [Friday morning] was no different.  I had not yet left Raleigh airport en route to Oklahoma City when I met Miss Opportunity. 

We stepped up to wash our hands at the same time, and I took note of her great haircut that was tinted pink, and commented favorably. ‘I used to tamp down my pink—now, I just let it out,’ I laughed, and of course she could not miss my obnoxiously pink dress. ‘Yeah, me too,’ she said.  

‘I think the world needs more pink, more happy,’ I said, and laughed. [Tactical move - common ground upon which to comment and springboard]

‘Hey, this was a special moment,’ she said, smiling broadly.  

And then I felt it – Zing! The nudge, the impression: ask the next question, which was ‘ask her if you can pray for her.’  And so I did. 

 ‘Is there some way I can pray for you?

‘Yes…please!’ she responded.

‘Is there something I can pray about specifically? Hey, what’s your name?’

‘Oh yes, I’m Bonita.  I work here at the airport as a sous chef, more than 10 hours a day, and I have a three-year-old daughter. I am tired!’  As a mother, I understood her concern about having to be away from her baby girl for so many hours, and about the pressure to provide.   

And so, in the doorway of the RDU airport women’s room, I uttered a quiet prayer to a loving God for Bonita and her little girl—asking for strength, provision, blessing and protection…then I hugged her tight.  

When I opened my eyes, hers were brimming with tears. ‘I needed this so much. Oh thank you!’  Bonita said . . .

I have a new friend, Laurie, refers to herself as a baby Christian, just about four years now. She has told me just a little of her background in music and New Age spirituality, and some of the things she was ‘in to’.  She teaches guitar, bass and vocals in Raleigh, and mentioned the other day with some weightiness, ‘Some of my students are just so dark--into some weird stuff. Did you know Heavy Metal is making a comeback?  I’m wondering what I can say, what I can do.  My friend told me to put these huge crosses in my studio, but the owner of the guitar shop would freak, you know – and that’s not my style anyway.’

As I listened to Laurie, I could not help but think how incredibly God has positioned her.

‘May I comment?' I asked. Once she nodded, I asked, 'Do you realize you can say things, have conversations about things I know nothing of, and can do so because you know about them and can speak the language?  When you have the opportunity, you can make well-placed comments or ask simple questions that will lead to some really meaningful talks about God!’ 

And So. Can. You, my friend.  

This is your light show over Bethlehem: there is a Savior who is Christ the Lord and when you get to know Him, your life takes on meaning as it never has before.  And friend, God has commissioned you to share the Good News with others--wherever you are in the world, whatever your vocation or lot in life.

Now, what is your response time?  How will you share the great love of God with someone you encounter today?

I'm Listening, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrfDlQ15NSM

Hey, are you Listening??

Christine

PastorWoman.net

1 - Luke 2.15-20

2 - Acts 1.8