1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. 3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:1-3 NLT
I have a good friend who finds it hard to believe that a god created the universe and our planet. It is easier for him to put “faith” in an act of randomness than in the God of the Bible. My heart breaks for him and I want so much for him to recognize and feel the God that I know as my friend.
I struggle with what my responsibility is in sharing my faith with him; do I confront him with threats of hell if he doesn’t believe? No! The Apostle Paul reminds me that “if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing”.
My responsibility is to love my friend and to show him in action and attitude the love and forgiveness that comes through knowing and accepting Jesus. I can’t open his eyes; but the Holy Spirit can.
Father I pray you open the eyes of my friend. Help him to step over that line from fatalism to faith. I pray that he will be able to see that my concern for him is genuine. In Jesus’ name; Amen