Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (NKJV)
I stood in line waiting to mail a package to the East Coast. The line was short and there was no one standing behind me. Yet, for some odd reason, a third postman suddenly appeared at his station. "Next please," he called out as he took a sip of his water bottle.
I walked over to where the man stood and greeted him softly. "Hi. How are you?" I humbly asked. Then, I began to explain my desire to have this particular package reach the East Coast by Thanksgiving Day. "Probably not possible?" I questioned.
"Now wait a minute!" The man argued with a tone! Then, he began to explain how I could send the package through express mail for bit more money. I just listened. When he finished explaining my options, I said, "Oh praise God!" The man scowled. Instantly, my mind flashed back to an earlier time when I had overheard another customer complaining about this particular postman. "He is cranky all the time!" The other man grunted while standing behind me in line.
Suddenly, I felt a need to explain the purpose of the package. "You see, I am sending a bible and a modest gift to the people hit hardest by the hurricane on the East Coast. I am a full-time Evangelist and I am feeling led by God to send this gift to them." I had caught his attention. With defenses enabled, he looked straight at me and said, "Just how exactly did God tell you to do this?" For a moment, I felt as though I was a small child again and I was in trouble. Was I being asked to defend my relationship with God?
I took a deep breath. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I blushed. Then, suddenly the Holy Spirit gave me words to speak. I was not alone. "I just open my bible. The pages land as they may and I begin to read. Then, God places a person or in this case a group of people on my heart. Next, all of the circumstances in my life change to fit the situation. All I have to do is be obedient to what God has planned." Immediately afterward, I began sharing my testimony. The man remained quiet and poised. He kept his head down as he added a postage sticker to the small package, and then reached out for my credit card.
I wonder now, if he was preparing a response while I spoke. Because the minute I had finished sharing my testimony, the man quickly responded. "Well to that I share this Chinese proverb." Next, he began to tell a story about a man whose stallion had run away. He said, "And all the people in the town said, 'What a terrible thing!' But the man in the proverb simply replied, 'How do you know?' "
After the postman had finished sharing the proverb, he looked straight at me and skeptically questioned, "So, how do you know? You are assuming that the storm was a bad thing! How do you know that God did not send the storm?" His posture was now even more rigid and unyielding. Then the man turned his back to me. He began to walk towards the back room of the post office. Yet, while he was still nearby, I replied. "I am not saying that it's bad. I tell everyone that the night of my arrest was the best night of my life." The man continued to walk away. And, as he walked away, he continued to repeat the same question, "How do you know?" "How do you know?" "How do you know?" He said one last time as he faded from sight.
"Sam?" I called out. The man poked his head around the corner of the tall metal racks. "The answer to your question is FAITH." I replied. Unbelievably, Sam's face lit up. And so did mine!
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