THE FRUIT OF LOVE

My church recently began a new series titled "Fruit of the Spirit". For those of you who may be unfamiliar with what that means, it's a biblical term found in Galatians 5:22-23. The scripture reads, "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Our Pastor began the series with an overview in week number one and then in week two, the sermon topic was on Love. After the sermon on love, I left feeling a healthy level of conviction that I probably don't love others, especially strangers, the way I want to. And more importantly, the way I should. What stuck in my head the most was when our Pastor talked about being on the lookout for divine interruptions to show love, especially when they are inconvenient.

The next morning, I began the day reciting a prayer we had been introduced to at church where we ask the Holy Spirit to ripen the fruit in our lives. The hope of exhibiting the fruit of the spirit lasted all of about 10 minutes as the work day engulfed me from the moment I logged onto my laptop. My work calendar was filled with back to back meetings and the influx of instant messages from employees needing my help bombarded my computer screen. By lunch time I was already running on fumes and dreading opening another email. By mid-afternoon, my patience had completely evaporated as I demonstrated a lack of concern with a team member who was asking for help, all because the question she asked was basic and one I felt she should already know. By this point, I decided it was best to shut down my computer and call it a day. As I sat there, I began to reflect on how poor my attitude had been all day. And then I began to think about the sermon on love from the previous day and the prayer I had offered up to God that very morning. I had failed miserably. I then decided to go for a walk to clear my head but not before I sent a friend the following text:

"My work day is over and I'm going to the water to spend quiet time with God. I'm going confidently and in faith with an expectation of God speaking to me because I am diligently seeking Him." And then I quoted from Hebrews 11:6 which states, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"

About 10 minutes later, I was walking around downtown Northville near the water located at Mill Race. I had my ear buds in and I was listening to worship music in an attempt to reset my attitude and to allow God to work on my heart. I quietly whispered to God, reminding Him that I was by the water because I was seeking to be in His presence. As I was walking around, I noticed colorful chalk writing on the concrete path ahead of me. When I was close enough to read it, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the chalk writings were a combination of scripture and other references to Jesus. I jokingly said to God that chalk writings were not exactly what I had in mind when I asked for His presence. As I was reflecting on what I was reading, an older man passed by and said, "A bunch of young girls were out here earlier doing it." I looked at him and by this point, he had stopped walking and was staring at the chalk alongside me. Out of curiosity, I asked him if he believed in God. He hesitantly answered yes, but I sensed there was something more he wanted to say given the tone of his voice. So I asked him a follow up question: “How is your relationship with God going?” He tried to respond but then got a little choked up. By this point I realized I had opened up a conversation that might take a while, more time than I wanted to spend. And truthfully, I was tired and had no energy for a deep conversation about faith. It had been a long day and all I really wanted was to simply listen to music and be alone by the water. But all I could hear in my head was my Pastor talking about inconvenient divine interruptions. So I asked the man if he wanted to sit on the bench nearby and talk. He agreed.

The man began by sharing that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He then talked about the distance he felt between his children and his wife, as he described in detail the loneliness he felt having very little human interactions over the previous several months due to Covid because he was high risk and needed to stay away from people. And then of course there was the fear of cancer as he talked about his prognosis and all the things his doctors were telling him. As he spoke, a stirring began to take place in my soul. I felt the hurt and pain in this man's words. I began to envision how it would feel to be isolated for months while simultaneously battling cancer and all the emotions and fears that must be going on in his head. I began to feel compassion and concern toward this man. I wanted to help him and the best way I knew how was to talk about the hope I had found in Jesus. With him having cancer and his fear about dying, I wanted to make sure he got assurance on his eternal destination. So I asked him if he thought he would go to heaven if he died. He paused for a few seconds and then responded by saying he thought he would. He seemed unsure about his answer so I asked him why that was. He began to explain that he was a pretty good person, that he didn't deliberately hurt people and that he had lived a pretty decent life. He talked about the 10 Commandments and how he felt that because he lived by them, he was hopeful he would end up in Heaven.

My heart broke for this man because it was clear from his answer that his understanding of salvation was based on his performance and not based on what Jesus had already done for him. And given the uncertainty with his medical condition, time was of the essence, so I wanted to delicately but honestly, in love, share the real Gospel message with him. I began by explaining that his definition of good was not as perfect as God’s and therefore, since he (and I) hadn’t lived up to God’s standard, we would both be punished under God's law for our sins and that neither of us would be going to Heaven based on our performance. I then explained that there was great news to share. I explained how going to Heaven had nothing to do with being a good person (because none of us are actually good under the law), but that going to Heaven was based on the sacrifice Jesus already made by going to the cross and paying the penalty for our sins. I quoted Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." I then moved onto 1 John 5:12-13, because I wanted to show him that he could know with 100% confidence that Heaven could be his eternal home. I wanted him to have the assurance he desperately needed in that moment. And in 1 John 5:12-13 we learn that, "He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [which represents all that Jesus Christ is and does], so that you will know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have eternal life.

I could tell by his reaction that the scriptures I was sharing with him went against everything he had been taught about God. And having once been on his side of this conversation, I understood why asking him to abandon what he thought about God for what I was sharing was a lot to ask of him, especially coming from me, a total stranger. So we continued to sit there for an extended period of time talking about the Bible, God, salvation and life. I shared my testimony and how God had redeemed me from the broken and lost person I used to be. When it was time for him to go, he thanked me for taking time to speak with him. He stated that he had spoken more to me than anyone in the last several months and that he believed God had set up this chance meeting because it was an answer to his prayers. He then went his way and I went mine.

I then headed toward the water to finally get the alone time with God that I had set out for in the first place. But instead of listening to music, I reflected on all that had taken place. I thought about the text I had sent my friend earlier that included the scripture that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And then I thought about how I asked God to work on my heart as it related to loving people better. Both of those prayers had seemingly been answered during my time with this man. And then I thought about what my Pastor had said about inconvenient divine interruptions. Yea, this was definitely an inconvenient divine interruption, but what a wonderful interruption it was.

† let the light in †