persistence in christ

Hello everybody, it’s Ryne.

Today the team finished our third week of ministry, and one thing the Lord is teaching me through this project is what it means to be persistent in Christ. 

In a mission field as difficult as Paris it is easy to get discouraged by the number of conversations that seem to make no difference or progress in the lives of the people we talk to. It is tempting for me to put too much weight on my role in sharing the gospel: to think that I am not as persuasive, loving, clear, or knowledgeable as I need to be. I begin to make the effectiveness of the gospel depend solely on my performance in a particular conversation.

Isaiah 55 is a passage that I cling to in order to not let the lie of performance discourage me. Verses 8-11 say:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,


neither are your ways my ways,” 
declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, 


so are my ways higher than your ways


and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow


come down from heaven,
and do not return to it


without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, 


so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:


It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire


and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

It is the most comforting thing to know that my role in sharing the gospel is to simply go and love those I speak with. I share what I believe about God, and the way He is working in my life. God does the rest. He is the truth. He is the one who changes hearts. He is more than powerful enough to cause His Word to accomplish what He desires. Knowing that truth enables me to go onto campus day after day proclaiming the truth of the gospel with boldness regardless of how much of a difference it seems like we are making.

And God is faithful to provide for those who persevere! Andrew, Davis, and I are scheduled to meet up for a second time with two Muslims students that we met at lunch today. They want to hear more about what we believe. After lunch we met two other agnostic students who after discussing the life of Jesus, told us they would read the book of John and were looking to meet up with us again to talk more about what we believe.

We did nothing new or different with those two conversations than with any of the other conversations we have had. We are only trusting that the Lord is powerful, and in that knowledge, we are going out into to world in humility and obedience to proclaim the gospel. And God is drawing His people to Himself.

One last verse that is so good:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’