Resting in Christ’s Sovereignty When Sharing the Gospel Hits Roadblocks

“I’m not a sinner,” is what she told me.

I can picture that moment vividly in my mind. I was sharing the gospel with a little girl in our church, and she proceeded to tell me that she was not a sinner and didn’t need God. I remember feeling as if a strong wave had crashed over me. Didn’t this little girl know what she was saying? Most kids I share the gospel with are very receptive…

Unfortunately, that isn’t the only unpleasant experience I’ve had sharing the gospel. Another memory comes to mind…

I was standing in my kitchen, when God gave me an opportunity to share the gospel with a lost family member. But every time I tried to share the gospel with her, she brushed me off.

Once again, a strong wave crashed over my head. I felt defeated and crushed.

Have you ever had similar experiences? If you share the gospel frequently, I bet you have.

The question is, how do we process these discouraging interactions? Do we merely brush them off and chalk it up as being the fault of the other person? Were we to blame for their resistance to the gospel? Or is there a bigger picture here that we haven’t yet considered?

God’s Sovereign Salvation Plan

One thing we should remember is that God always saves His people.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 1:5 that God “has predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”

Who exactly is “us”? If we backtrack to Ephesians 1:1 we read that Paul is writing “to the saints…” In other words, God has predestined believers for adoption through Jesus.

Predestination? Yes, I know, it’s a topic most people don’t want to bring up. But God placed it in the Bible for a reason.

One of those reasons is that it helps us to remember that Jesus is the Savior, not us. He is the only One who can convince minds and soften hearts. He is in control, and He has a plan. Therefore, when sharing the gospel doesn’t go as we planned, we can rest in Christ knowing that God will always redeem His people.

When we share the gospel with someone, it always goes as planned—because it always goes according to God’s plan.

Unpleasant Paths to Humility

Sometimes God uses things like an unpleasant gospel presentation to humble us and bring us back to the feet of Jesus.

This is because sometimes after doing an especially good job sharing the gospel, we can develop a high view of ourselves and a low view of God. We take the credit. We think that we convincingly shared the gospel with someone, it was all us, and that’s not true. We cannot save anyone; salvation is in God’s hands.

So, God allows us to have those unpleasant experiences to remind us that when it does go well it’s not because of anything we did and entirely because of what Christ has done.

God is the One who gives us those opportunities to witness in the first place. And He is the One who opens the hearts of people to receive the message of salvation.

As Christians, we are to walk in humility and live in surrender to Christ (James 4:10, Eph. 4:2, 1 Peter 5:6).

If I’m being completely honest with you, my reader, I’ll admit that I’m guilty of getting very puffed up after a gospel conversation goes well. What do I do about it?

I repent.

And when I repent, because God is so gracious, and because I’m in Christ, I’m forgiven.

Every time I mess up, Jesus takes my hand and helps me move forward in humble reliance on His ability to save instead of my own.

Praying For Unbelievers

When we feel discouraged after an unpleasant gospel opportunity, one of the best things we can do for our unbelieving friend or family member is to pray for them.

Pray that:

– The Holy Spirit would regenerate their hearts.

– Their eyes would be opened to their sin and their need for a Savior.

– They would be surrounded by believers everywhere they go.

– The Lord would give you and other believers more opportunities to speak into their life if that’s His will.

Clinging To Christ

Lastly, don’t let the enemy tell you lies after sharing the gospel hasn’t gone well. You are God’s child. His lies have no hold on you!

Grow closer to Christ through every slip up and mistake. He loves us and died for us. He is so gracious to want to use us to share the gospel. Trust Him to give you the words to say in those moments as well.

We should walk through life completely in surrender and reliance to our Lord, our Abba Father.

When He is first in our minds, we will have such compassion and love for people that not only will we want to share the gospel with our words, but with our actions as well.

“Never let go out of your minds the thoughts of a crucified Christ.’ Let these be food and drink unto you; let them be your sweetness and consolation, your honey and your desire, your reading and your meditation, your life…” -Thomas Brooks.