There are dozens of times I feel compelled to hand someone a gospel tract, give someone a word of encouragement, give someone a Bible, or vocally share the gospel. And sometimes I wonder if my timid obedience does anything at all. I don’t get to see the fruit of every encounter. And sometimes there isn’t much of a response. So, I begin to devalue evangelism. I go looking for a gospel tract in my glove box and I’m quietly relieved when I don’t find one. My cynicism begins to silence me.
There are several promises that I think Christians should trust in order to grow in evangelistic obedience, primarily the promise that Jesus is with you (Matt. 28:20). But I want to focus on one particular truth that silences my pessimism and lights a fire in my bones for evangelism. And it is the truth of God’s meticulous providence — that nothing is by accident, and that He rules over everything.
Why Does God’s Providence Produce Hopeful Evangelism?
When we believe in God’s providence, we believe that God can use the tiniest of seeds to grow a beautiful fruit-bearing tree. When we believe in God’s providence, we can know that what might seem like a waste of time — giving someone a gospel tract — may be the means to which an entire family is saved. When we believe in God’s providence, we begin seeing inconveniences like dead car batteries, visits to the doctor, and trips to the DMV as providential opportunities of grace to make His name known to the people in those places. When we hope in His providence, by faith we can believe that God is able to use our faithful discipleship of a new believer to form a future church planter if God so pleases.
True Stories to Encourage Faith in God’s Providence
The root of any sin is unbelief. Therefore, the answer to evangelistic disobedience is faith — just like any other sin we fight. And the promise of God’s providence is an overwhelmingly compelling truth to encourage us in evangelism and discipleship. Instead of giving you several points to prove this, I want to give you several stories.
Dad’s Trip to Costco
My dad and sister were hanging out one day and got lunch together. After lunch, they casually decided to go to Costco. As my dad was walking out of Costco, he gave a gospel tract to the man who checks receipts. The Costco man set the tract aside. Well, “that was that,” it seemed.
The day continued and my sister suggested they go to Bath and Body Works at the outlet malls. While at Bath and Body Works, my dad felt compelled to give a tract to an employee there. He told her it was about Jesus Christ. As they were talking, the woman brought up her husband and shared how it was their 31st wedding anniversary. She mentioned that her husband worked at Costco. My dad asked what he did at Costco and what he looked like.
Sure enough, the Costco man who my dad gave a tract to was this woman’s husband. The woman was shocked when she found out that my dad had unknowingly given her husband a tract too. Because of the major “coincidence,” she took the gospel tract seriously.
The story didn’t end there. Apparently, my dad got the wrong size and had to return what he previously bought. While in the “return” line, he noticed the same Costco man about to leave his station checking people out. So, my dad got out of line and went up to the Costco man and asked him where his gospel tract was. The Costco man shrugged it off and didn’t have the gospel tract with him. So, my dad went and found where he put the tract and boldly told him to read it. He shared with the Costco man that he had just met his wife at Bath and Body Works. When my dad shared that he knew it was their 31st wedding anniversary and that it was no coincidence that my dad happened to give both of them — at separate times and separate occasions — a gospel tract, the Costco man looked pale. And indeed, he now took it seriously.
What’s crazy about that story is that my dad didn’t plan to go to Costco or Bath and Body Works. My sister just “randomly”suggested they go. And they didn’t go to intentionally share Christ. The Holy Spirit clearly guided each of their steps.
A Dead Car Battery
One random Thursday at 2:01 p.m., I got a text that I could get a $300 reimbursement from a church mission trip I went on. Extra money was given toward the trip, and a flight cancellation on the front end of our trip meant less days in the AirBNB, resulting in a cheaper stay. I gladly received the reimbursement and thought to myself, “Hmm, I wonder what I should do with this money.”
The next morning, my car didn’t start. In all honesty, I got this little tinge of excitement that this could be an opportunity for something. I thought about what neighbor I could ask to jump-start my car and hoped that it might be an excuse to ask one of my unbelieving neighbors for help — in hopes of a gospel opportunity. But it turned out that the most convenient person to ask was my neighbor across the street who was already a Christian. He graciously helped me jump-start my car so I could drive to a shop and get my battery checked. I asked my roommate Abby if she wanted to come along, and she did.
So, this is what the $300 is for, I chuckled. We walked inside the auto parts store and had the man check my battery. It was dead indeed, so he pulled up a bunch of battery options on his computer. I was so excited looking at the prices. God provided close to the exact amount that I would need. I couldn’t help but smile and tell my roommate about the way God provided. The man was confused and remarked, “Y’all must have had a good day or something, because I’ve never seen anyone so happy looking at these prices.”
I testified to the man that my joy was because of God’s provision, and then he followed me outside to replace my dead battery with the new one. For some reason, he took an extra-long time because he couldn’t get a part to tighten. Because of that, God allowed me to share the gospel with him as he was changing my battery. My roommate chimed in, and together we gave him the reason for the hope we have (1 Pet. 3:15).
He listened. And I rejoiced. I’ve never been happier to have a dead car battery because it led me to share the gospel with somebody.
Andrew Mark Adil — Unlikely Church Planter in Montreal
Recently, Carolyn (my coworker) and I attended a conference in North Carolina. While there, I reconnected with Andrew Mark Adil, a church planter in Canada who I’d previously met. Adil’s story is unique, and you can read it here. In summary, he grew up in the Middle East as a Sunni Muslim before his family moved to Canada. As a teen, his childhood friend invited him to church, where he received his first Bible and was introduced to Jesus. Adil returned to his home country in the Middle East, and while there, he was discipled by missionaries. Adil met his wife, led her to Christ, and they decided to move back to Canada to plant a church in Montreal.
What struck me about his story is that Adil was discipled by some young missionaries who Adil said were at the time just doing a two-year commitment overseas. Where cynicism would say that only long-term missionary work is worthwhile, faith in God’s providence proves otherwise. I don’t know, but I doubt these men knew they were discipling a future church planter who would then reach dozens of people for Christ in Montreal. I also doubt these missionaries would ever think that Adil’s story would encourage a young journalist to trust in the providence of God and write about it.
Have Hope
The stories shared are simply personal experiences — they aren’t authoritative in any way. But fear not: If you do a topical study of God’s providence throughout the Bible, you’ll find it everywhere. From the story of Joseph in Genesis, to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, to the wild missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul — God rules and He reigns. Have hope and share the gospel.
