Written by Tim Green, missionary church planter in Memphis, Tennessee
“Why has God allowed this to happen to me?” Have you ever asked this question?
That was a question that our coworker, Melissa Pinkston, was asking as she lay in misery from diarrhea and vomiting. She was hit so hard that she could not go out to get the medicine that her doctor had prescribed, so she asked her husband, Jim, to stay home from work so he could go to the pharmacy.
Later in the day, Jim answered a knock on the door from workers wanting to clear the branches from around the power lines. Jim took this opportunity to talk to the Hispanic men, inviting them to church and giving them tracts with our church information.
That next Sunday, to Jim’s surprise, there was Marcos! He joined in singing and was very attentive to the message. When I gave the invitation, Marcos responded. After the service, I had the joy of seeing him confess his sin and receive the Lord as his Savior.
Marcos then told me his story: About a week earlier, he was reflecting on his life and prayed, “God, I am so disillusioned with religion. I need to know that You are real. I need You to send me a sign or someone to tell me the truth.” Two days later he was cutting branches at Jim’s house and was given a gospel tract. When that happened, he remembered his prayer.
God had answered! He went home that night and read the tract and was convinced and convicted by God’s Word.
What an amazing chain of events God used to reach ONE soul: Marcos prayed. Melissa got sick. Jim stayed home. Marcos went to work at their house. Jim invited and gave a tract. Marcos came to church and was saved!
Now you know the answer to that question: “Why me, Lord?” God has a purpose in everything that He allows to come into our lives.
Editor’s Note: Marcos was baptized in July 2008 and is hungry to learn God’s Word and grow in the Lord. When he was given a calendar with Bible verses for each day, he memorized every verse!