Three-year-old Joseph Leffler wandered off from home and disappeared in the vast forest outside Estacada, Oregon. A massive search began, but as Friday night gave way to Saturday, and Saturday passed into Sunday morning, worries intensified. How long could a three-year-old survive in the wild forest?
Then, just before noon on Sunday, little Joseph came out of the woods. He walked straight up to one of the searchers and stretched out his arms for her to pick him up.
A newspaper reported the good news under a headline in bold black letters: “Lost Boy Finds Searcher.”
I love that headline. It’s a perfect way to describe the beginning of a relationship with God. When we finally start reaching out to God, we discover that he’s been reaching out to us all along.
If you’re a nonbeliever, or you care about a nonbeliever, God is passionately pursuing people who need him. In John 16:7-11, Jesus said that as believers share the gospel, the Holy Spirit will convict nonbelievers. This should be a great encouragement. Maybe whenever you try to talk about your faith with someone, nothing seems to come of it. But this passage says that something is happening even if you can’t perceive it. As you dialogue with a nonbeliever, the Holy Spirit joins the conversation. He presses home the meaning and the worth of the truth we so imperfectly convey.
Now, does that mean everyone comes to belief? No. In a court of law, a person may receive a conviction but not have conviction. He may hear a judge declare him guilty but refuse to feel himself guilty. Sadly, its true in gospel work, too. But trust that whenever you talk to a friend or relative about your faith, there is a supernatural operator in that conversation who convicts the nonbeliever to reconsider his or her incorrect views. Knowing this should make us more diligent to share our faith and more confident in the outcome.
Go deeper into this truth with the Hillcrest Family this Sunday at 10am!
--Tom
Tom Goodman serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter. If someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, sign up here to receive Tom’s weekly devotional in your email inbox.