Lost But Not Forgotten

3/25/2021

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

It is heartbreaking when someone turns so far away from faith in Jesus that they take every opportunity to beat down Christianity. I have experienced this recently and with someone in my life. My husband and I have done ministry work with kids of all ages, from nursery aged to young adults. We facilitated a college and career group in New Hampshire before moving to a different state. This group usually had 10 to 15 participants, most of them regular attendees. We would open our house up every Sunday night to study and discuss the Bible, pray, play board games, watch movies, share meals, have parties, and often talk to a few of them until the wee hours of the morning. We also were "on call" whenever any of them were having a hard time and needed council. We did our very best to be open and available in every way. 

We both have learned over many years that our mission as disciples of Jesus is to plant a seed, and that God works in the heart and soul. It is difficult not to know if you have had a lasting impact on someone's life, and we would often think of the children, teens, or young adults that have passed through our lives for a season praying that they all yielded to the Lord and were following Him. Then came social media. Now to be honest, neither of us had been on any platform until about four years ago. Yup, we were really late to that party. As we have connected with more and more people from our past, we sadly have noticed that some of the young people we ministered to, either through our church family or one of the groups we facilitated, are no longer walking with the Lord. Even more heartbreaking is that one of them is actively aggressive when it comes to the Christian faith. This person posts the most awful things about believers, and it truly hurts my heart to see. The pain does not come from the negativity, for we know that persecution is part of walking with Jesus. No, the pain comes from knowing that this person has hardened their heart to Jesus. 

I know people will "unfriend" or "ghost" someone that get them riled up on social media, but I feel led to use my page as a way to edify others and honor Jesus. I used to get, as my son calls it, baited into never-ending debates trying to defend Christianity to those who are still blind to the saving grace of Jesus. I would try to redirect them from focusing on their disappointment with imperfect believers, of which I am one, to focusing on Jesus. Alas, no amount of loving words seemed to matter in the heat of the debate. So, I did a full stop. Now I post articles, encouraging faith memes, and prayers about the love of Christ and the healing that can only from Him. My prayer is that this dear lost soul, and those like her, will continue to see these posts, and one day yield their lives to the Savior once again.