God often uses challenging experiences to bring evangelism opportunities our way. Laura worked with a woman whose abrasive demeanor and relational struggles made it difficult to relate to her. One day Laura was given some lovely flowers which she displayed on her desk at work. Her friend snapped a picture and shared it on social media as if they were her flowers. Laura had a few choices – ignore it, become offended or…reach out to this woman. God laid it on Laura’s heart that she should buy her flowers. She thought, “Really, God?” But she did, and the moment she gave those flowers the relationship began to change. Her co-worker’s response was, “This is the nicest thing anyone has done for me!” In fact, this simple act of kindness led to conversation about God.
Laura writes, “One day, she came to my desk and started crying, “Laura, what is the meaning of life?” I was taken aback and gave her the best answer I could at work. Then I said, “I have this Bible study that talks about the meaning of life, if you’d like to do it together?” She agreed and over the next few months, we did The Exchange Bible Studytogether after work.
“When we read the studies together, she kept commenting on how beautiful it all is. It was so sweet to hear her thinking of the gospel this way. On the second lesson about God’s Justice I was nervous because we had limited time to discuss this important lesson, but I tried to trust God with the timing. During that study, it literally felt like God suspended timeto give us enough discussion and she kept reading ahead. I could tell she was under conviction and when we got to the part where it says, ‘If you’d like to know how to accept Christ, let your study leader know’, I paused and she said, ‘Well, go ahead!’ She accepted Christ then.”
This simple gift of flowers opened the door for Laura to share the gospel. Through studying the Gospel, Laura’s friend found the hope and satisfaction that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus. She showed a true heart of change and several co-workers made comments like this one, “Something is different about her!” She even expressed a desire to use The Exchange materials with her boyfriend and sister.
What a poignant reminder of the power of a godly choice to reach out rather than take offense. This choice on our part may very well make an eternal difference!