Last month my husband presented his cousin with a neatly wrapped gift. When his cousin unwrapped the package, he was surprised to find a brand new Bible from Kirk with an inscription on the inside: To Stan, From Kirk, Merry Christmas 2009. Stan quickly thanked Kirk and mentioned to him he has been meaning to begin reading the Bible. Kirk came home pumped up and praising God for this opportunity. This moment in time was definitely an answer to one of my husband’s prayer.
In 1982, when Kirk and I came into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, our lives changed pretty dramatically. In our zeal, there was no one we were afraid to share the good news with. Sometimes it was with a one, two, punch which left many not knowing exactly what hit them, while others took on our challenge and prayed to receive Christ.
But then there was an entire different category of folks who fell in the group of “That’s just a bunch of malarkey”. I think Stan fell into this group. Stan and his wife were not only our good friends, but Stan’s wife, Cindy, was also Kirk’s cousin. We shared so many special moments together while hanging out with them, and some real sad ones too. Stan and Cindy’s first baby died before she was even one month old. She was born with a heart defect and did not survive the surgery that was required to repair her heart. I remember hurting so bad for Stan and Cindy during this time, and tried my best to reach out to them to let them know that we cared.
A few years after her death, Kirk and I came into the truth of Who Jesus is, and the free gift of eternal life that He offers to all who trust in Him. This was such great news to us that we made it a point to tell everyone who would listen. That is when we made a visit to Stan and Cindy’s house to tell them all about the love of Jesus and about the assurance of heaven that one could have. Their cliché response was, “How can you believe anything that is in the Bible since there are so many contradictions in it?”
We left that day feeling defeated. We were not equipped to answer their question since we were not aware of any contradictions in the Bible. We knew better than try to get into some deep theological debate since we were so new in our faith, so we decided just to leave. We rarely saw Stan and Cindy after that day but we had never forgotten their words to us.
Kirk then began his quest to learn God’s Word and to know it so well that he would never have to leave another loved one with unanswered questions. He prayed that somehow God would give him a second chance with Stan, even though they seldom saw each other. And that second chance, or golden opportunity, came last month after 27 years. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3:8)
How about you? Do you have any Stan’s in your life that you need to re-connect with after a long absence? Maybe it is someone that has been turned off by your Christianity, like Stan was with us. If so, may I challenge you? Maybe this is the time that God will do a working that you have been so praying for. You never know…this could be your golden opportunity!
Be wise in the way you act toward those who are outside the Christian faith.
Make the most of your opportunities. Everything you say should be kind
and well thought out so that you know how to answer everyone
Colossians 4:5-6 GOD’S WORD Translation
Founder and Director of Key Ministries located in Lexington South Carolina. You can reach us at keyministries@yahoo.com. .