Craig Clouston

 A Moment Away

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.

Acts 9:1

Ben had lived a rough life. As a matter of fact, he was still living a rough life.

Six feet two inches tall, two hundred forty pounds of solid muscle, Ben was an oil-field roustabout, making his living wrestling thirty-foot joints of steel pipe and pumping oil wells in the dead middle of winter. He was strong and seasoned. 

He was also opinionated as far as things related to the God of the Bible. Quick witted, he always made a derogatory comment when anyone mentioned God or Jesus, saying things like, “God is an excuse for weak people who can’t make it on their own!”

A friend once asked Ben what he thought he might say to God when he found himself standing before him on the day of his death. He contemptuously answered, “Why, I’m gonna ask Him, ‘Where’s the best fishin’ hole?’” 

Continuing to pray, this friend never gave up on Ben. He constantly spoke to Ben about God’s love, praying God would draw him into a saving relationship, perhaps on his own road to Damascus, like Saul. And after thirty years of witnessing, and interceding on Ben’s behalf, on a warm summer’s morning Ben invited Jesus into his heart!

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At times we may be tempted to give up on those who seem to have too rough an exterior toward the things of God. Tired of their rhetoric, we’re tempted to distance ourselves from their unseemly actions.

Saul’s story gives us hope. One moment he was cursing the kingdom, the next he was serving the King. Not everyone who rails against God, breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples, will be changed. But we are not to give up on them. They might be a moment away from nearing their Damascus.

Do you know someone like Ben? If so, ask God for another measure of the grace you were saved by and then extend it to the Ben God placed in your life.

Prayer

“God of grace, give us strength. Show us what the hard cases of life look like to You. Grant us wisdom to know what to say and then give us the courage to speak in love. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”