Today while sitting at the City Evangelism Registration Table, I was looking at the registration list thinking about all the people who had not signed up. Part of me started to get a bit disappointed because out of the many youth that we have at church, only a fraction had signed up to serve next Sunday. (As I have posted before, it's not that I feel sad that people aren't actually doing it, it's more that I feel as though they are going to miss out). But the thought that if more Christians got over their fear and went out to evangelise to strangers, then we would truly see a revival in this world wouldn't leave my mind.
I kind of realised today that despite my enthusiasm for people to sign up and join in, there will always be some people who will never, no matter what I or anyone else says, come along to City Evangelism (or if they do go once, will not go a second time). And though it is difficult to accept (knowing that it is a commission from God Himself), I realise it is true and that frankly, I can't do anything about it.
What struck me however, was that God must feel the same way - but even more so and with other stuff. I believe that God has a whole heap of blessings that He wants us as His children to enjoy, but often we end up making the choice to disobey Him and we ultimately end up missing out on the blessings intended for us. It must sadden God to see what we end up with especially while He also knows what we COULD have had. God must look down from Heaven at us all the time thinking 'Noooooooo! Don't do that! Oh how I wish you could see what you just missed out on! You would have loved it sooooo much - it was perfect for you!'. It must break His heart - especially because He has to pretty much sit on His hands and watch as we do what we do using the autonomy God gave us to make our own choices.
God doesn't (and never will) force us to do something. If He did, our response to Him would not be one of true gratitude and love, but rather one of inanimate, feelingless, meaningless, remote-controlled-obedience. In the same way, if I (or anyone else for that matter) try to get people to go to City Evangelism through persuasion, guilt, peer pressure (maybe not so much peer pressure seeing as the majority don't actually go), or any other means, the response of the people will likewise be less than genuine.
God can really only hint to us what the right thing to do is through His Word and I guess, similarly, with City Evangelism, all I can do is try my best to encourage people to go and just really hope and pray that God will continue hinting to them and through that give them the true motivation to serve.
I kind of realised today that despite my enthusiasm for people to sign up and join in, there will always be some people who will never, no matter what I or anyone else says, come along to City Evangelism (or if they do go once, will not go a second time). And though it is difficult to accept (knowing that it is a commission from God Himself), I realise it is true and that frankly, I can't do anything about it.
What struck me however, was that God must feel the same way - but even more so and with other stuff. I believe that God has a whole heap of blessings that He wants us as His children to enjoy, but often we end up making the choice to disobey Him and we ultimately end up missing out on the blessings intended for us. It must sadden God to see what we end up with especially while He also knows what we COULD have had. God must look down from Heaven at us all the time thinking 'Noooooooo! Don't do that! Oh how I wish you could see what you just missed out on! You would have loved it sooooo much - it was perfect for you!'. It must break His heart - especially because He has to pretty much sit on His hands and watch as we do what we do using the autonomy God gave us to make our own choices.
God doesn't (and never will) force us to do something. If He did, our response to Him would not be one of true gratitude and love, but rather one of inanimate, feelingless, meaningless, remote-controlled-obedience. In the same way, if I (or anyone else for that matter) try to get people to go to City Evangelism through persuasion, guilt, peer pressure (maybe not so much peer pressure seeing as the majority don't actually go), or any other means, the response of the people will likewise be less than genuine.
God can really only hint to us what the right thing to do is through His Word and I guess, similarly, with City Evangelism, all I can do is try my best to encourage people to go and just really hope and pray that God will continue hinting to them and through that give them the true motivation to serve.
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