Recently, I spoke about a wonderful man who is a member of our church. If you recall, he has just turned 95 years young. His name is Charlie, and since then I’ve had the privilege to spend some time with him.
I listened intently as he shared his amazing testimony about what has been going on with him for the last couple of years. He said throughout his life he had been a person of few words, a quiet person who just minded his own business and kept his thoughts to himself. He believed his low-key demeanor was interpreted by those who knew him as someone unfriendly. As a result, he was shunned and ignored. When his wife passed away not too long ago, he was left all alone and began to struggle with how he had felt like an outcast for his low-key personality.
A while back, after listening to a sermon by our pastor about the importance of personal evangelism, after the service Charlie found the courage to say, “You mean the Lord wants me to ask people if they know Jesus, and if they are not close to God, I should invite them to church?”
Our pastor said, “Yes, absolutely,” and this was another confirmation about what Charlie knew the Lord was speaking to him. Charlie told the Lord he was sorry for being so unfriendly. The more time he spent praying and asking God to take control, he could sense that he was being changed in the deepest recesses of his soul.
No doubt, I was seeing this miracle, simply with the fact that he was communicating with me with such honesty and sincerity. The words were flowing from him so eloquently, I would have never known that just a short time ago this would not have been normal for him at all.