Those in whom God stirs

“In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.  Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.”  Genesis 41:8 

Out of the blue, a friend once asked me, “Did I ever tell you I was raised as a Muslim?”  I sat back and, after a taking a brief moment to absorb what he had just said, replied, “Why, no, you never did.”  He went on to explain, having attended a Catholic school in Nigeria, he admired many things about the faith and secretly wanted to be Christian.  Upon coming to America years later, he was unable to find a mosque in his city.  The Spirit again stirred in him and, after dreaming about Jesus one night, he gave his life to Christ. 

We love to hear stories of God working in and through the lives of those who have found life in Christ, but we forget he also goes to great lengths to get the attention of non believers, as well.  Think back on your own life and your own path to the cross.  What did God do in you and around you to get your attention?  How did the Spirit stir in you?  What set of circumstances “just happened” to come together to prove, whether or not you knew it at the time, that God was after your heart? 

God interacts with humankind, created in his image, in such a way that we would “seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).  He moves in and around non believers in a way only he can. 

And then he involves us in his redemptive work, calling us to step into the lives of those he is calling.  Our role is simply to do what he asks, be it serving, witnessing or sharing how they can find peace with God through Christ.  It’s not that hard. 

“You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”  Augustine of Hippo, in “Confessions."

[Click here to see the daily reading in Genesis 41:1-13.]