Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going out to coffee with a friend of mine. She’s a writer, like me, and she gave me great advice on some bookish things next month. However, the highlight of my day was when this one young woman interrupted our conversation.
She wanted to know what kind of book I was writing. I told her about Scales and how it’s a Christian fantasy and we all just got to talking. A lot of people here in Puerto Rico believe in God in some form or another (mainly Catholic) and this woman was no exception. She was raised Catholic, but more recently, she doesn’t like the Catholic Church. I shared my testimony from atheism to Christianity and she opened up about her own life.
She remembers a time when she was super close to God, but that now, she’s far away. She doesn’t know how to get close again. She’s never had a moment where God just touches her life. She heard my testimony and she admitted that she hadn’t felt that kind of relationship with God ever.
I know what it’s like to be far away from Jesus. I haven’t walked much of my life with God, but five years has been enough to have quite a few ups and downs. There are some days where I feel like I can hear God clear as day. Others where I’m not sure where I am.
When that happens, I go back to the fundamentals. I press into prayer again, study my Bible even when I’m half-asleep or my mind is running with a million other thoughts. I go to church and fellowship. In all of these places, I found God before, and I know He’s still there, even if I don’t quite see it. I recommended she start with picking up the Bible. It’s God’s Word and, more often than not for me, God speaks through the pages. At the very least, she would read and learn more about truth than what the world could be saying.
In the end, we talked about writerly things. Maybe we’ll start a writing critique group one of these days, maybe not. Regardless, this experience reminded me of the most important part of living as a Christian: telling others about Christ and encouraging them. Sometimes we talk to raw sinners and they get saved. Other times, it’s the backslider that needs help getting back to Jesus.
One thing is for sure, I’m definitely going back to that coffee shop again. Maybe there’ll be another fellow Christian who needs some encouragement. Or maybe, next time, it’ll be me.
