Find Faith, Hope, and Encouragement for Your Walk with God

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for the Moore family. As I sit here in a hotel room with the girls and half my family still back home, I can’t help but reflect on the significance of this day and the gift from God. Almost a year ago, I knew that change was coming. In the past, I would worry and fret on what would be changing. Would it be my civilian job? Was my time in the military done? Was it about my writing-was I going down the right path? Did it have to do with my family? I felt God preparing me and I chose to just trust and follow where he led me. I felt almost certain that it would be one door closing so another could open, boy was I wrong. It was all doors opening wide!

I remember when Rob and I started our life together. I had just come back from being stationed in Korea, we each had over $400 in phone card bills and we both had very little to our names. We had to move from Raleigh to Washington, DC. This began the series of events that could only be orchestrated by God. Rob’s brother gave us $20. Those dollars were the only way we paid for gas to make the trip (that tells you how long ago if $20 could get us from Raleigh to DC!) One of my fellow officers offered his townhome to us while he was stationed in Korea at a rental fee below my housing allowance and his pantry was FULL!! We found a local restaurant that we could by a rotisserie chicken and get one free and we rolled change to be able to buy groceries. We didn’t have much, but we had all we needed. We attended church but my relationship with God was not as it is today. As I look back, it is clear that God was with us all along this journey.

As I sat in prayer this evening I came to 1 Corinthians and it reminded me of the different ways we can and should meet people where they are. Paul reminds us that he chose to meet people where they are in order to bring them to salvation. He says that “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-22, NIV). On the surface, this may seem as if Paul is a chameleon that changes based on his environment in order to bring others to Christ. It may seem like he is not sincere or truthful to who he is. I argue that Paul remains truthful to who he is and he is a child of God that is meeting them where they are to help them see where they could be. He does not turn his back on God and follow other laws or traditions, he is simply respectful of the environment of those he is seeking to draw closer to God. Shouldn’t we do the same? Should we only speak to fellow believers or should we be bold and seek people where they are to show them how God works in our lives?