I am NOT a natural evangelist.
I can testify on social media with the fiercest of them, but when it comes to sharing the gospel in person, you will see me visibly shaking in my boots.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to tell someone about the ashes on my forehead.
As I walked the aisles of the grocery store for essentials after Ash Wednesday mass, I was approached by a male employee who had seen several people with the ash cross on their foreheads and didn't know what it meant.
So, I mustered up what courage I had and proceeded to tell him about the humble and penitential nature of the ashes, and the season of Lent that precedes Easter.
I then went on my way, contemplating if I could have said anything differently or additionally. Once I rounded the corner of the next aisle, I heard him casually talking to his coworkers about it.
While I'm fairly certain that had I expanded and tried to evangelize further it would've fallen on spiritually deaf ears, my hope is that a seed was planted.
He isn't likely to be converted by our meager little exchange, but if it spurs his curiosity, ignites a small spark, or gets his wheels turning, then I've done what we've been called to do.
Every opportunity we seize to teach or share the love of Christ with others has the potential to be the stuff of miracles in the hands of the Father. We can't force others to embrace faith, but we can always, always, ALWAYS plant the seed.
God can take the most humble of mustard seeds and turn into something abundantly and exceedingly more than we could ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
So I will move forward and pray for that man. Pray that my words would bear fruit. Pray that his curiosity and willingness to ask a simple question would lead to a lifetime of passionate pursuit of Christ.
"Keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." - Ephesians 1:17-19
