Someone Just Like You...

Most of us are full of good intentions. We want to do the right things, but it gets complicated somewhere between the good intention and the actual step in the right direction. This seems particularly true among Christians. With the help of the enemy, we make life so much harder than it needs to be. The enemy is great at deceiving us into thinking that being a follower of Christ is so hard. When a pastor talks about spiritual disciplines like praying or having a daily time with the Lord, the enemy is right there whispering, “You can’t do it. You don’t have time. What difference will it even make?” When we are told we should reach out to others that don’t have a relationship with the Lord, we all but revert to the fetal position!At Highpoint, we constantly talk about Invest and Invite. It is not just inviting someone, but it is caring enough to invest in the relationship. In an overly simplistic example, I think about the different responses from my children years ago when their classmates invited them to birthday parties. When Susie’s mom was kind enough to invite the whole class, it was appreciated. Yet if my child never spent time with Susie, the invitation did not elicit much interest. If the one sending the invitation, however, was a friend of my child, it was a whole different story. The investment in a relationship absolutely impacts an invitation. We would work our schedule to prioritize being there. Even at that age, it was not about the cake or the goody bag. It was about the relationship.Just before we think, “I will never be that person that can reach out to others,” or “I am not an extrovert,” we should notice something that Matthew subtly spells out for us. Early in the days of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus started calling His disciples. As He called Matthew the tax collector, Matthew followed Him. In the very next verse (Matt 9:10), we see Matthew having a dinner party with Jesus. This was not a party for two. Any guesses on who else made it to the guest list? Yep, other tax collectors!So, before you make this Christian thing too hard in your own mind, just look in the mirror. Who are you? A single woman in college? A working woman with small kids? An architect? A teacher? A stay-at-home mom? If you see God’s grace sustaining you on your journey, find someone just like you and simply share with her that there is hope through the Lord. You don’t even have to enter another sphere to reach out. If we all just encourage someone like ourselves, we would be shocked at the impact we would have. Conveniently, we usually look for friends that are similar to us, so this is a pretty easy search.I was recently invited to dinner with a small group that has been meeting this semester. One college graduate who saw God work in her life had reached out to her college friends. Now with a common experience behind them, they were asking questions each week about how to live out this season of life in a way that honored God and protected them. I am confident that each woman there is better off because one woman just like them shared the joy she was experiencing as a result of seeking the Lord.God can use you right where you are if you let Him. Who do you need to give hope to today?