He HAS Called You

Monday was a weird day ministering as a pro-life sidewalk counselor at our city's busiest abortion center. there were several apparently soft hearts, lots of cars stopped to talk with us, lots took our information, almost no heckling directed at us...yet only one mama chose life. Don't get me wrong - I praise God for that little baby still safe in the womb. I was hoping for more...

That one decision for life was from a mama one of our counselors spoke with on her way into the center. She took our literature eagerly, said she was there for an abortion, but would consider the info. She went in, then came out before the abortionist arrived and drove away. One baby safe for now.

One worker came to me when I called to tell her we could help her find a better job than piecing together aborted baby parts. She took Abby Johnson's phone number for abortion workers seeking to leave the industry. (abortionworker.com, And Then There Were None, 501c) She spoke with me when she was alone, away from the other workers. Again, only one person of all those people who look daily on the gruesome tasks they must perform in that place, but praise God for the one.

An 80-year-old guy selling BJs Wholesale Club membership in the abortion scheduling center (?) stopped to talk with us. Three of us gathered around him and we had a rousing discussion of faith. He was "on the fence" and unsure of his salvation. We spoke at length with him, and I gave him a tract on becoming a Christian. The sticking point for him was those "hypocrites" who gather in church, listen to the message, and then after church, swear and give the finger to the person who is going too slow in front of their car. I asked him if he would refuse to see an excellent doctor who only cured half his patients because they refused to follow his treatment plan. He saw my point.

I offered to pray with him to accept Jesus then and there but he declined for now, and said he would think on it. We urged him not to think too long. When one is 80, time is not exactly in endless supply. Nice guy and nice discussion.

You never know why God has called you to the sidewalk ministry!

There was another interesting providential event. A young man none of us knew was dropped off by his dad to minister with us. He is 18 years old. He said little, but was there to stand in recognition of the babies' humanity and pray. A young girl (she looked 12 but was probably 18) pulled over and stopped her car to talk with one of our counselors on the street. I approached and spoke with her as well. She was fighting tears, but then hardened, as we urged her to pause long enough to get our free ultrasound. She agreed to read our pamphlet, but drove in to the center's lot.

The young man said, "I know her! She goes to my school." (Charlotte Catholic. Always dismaying when young Christian girls come for abortions.) We urged him to call to her. Brave kid - he did. He told her he knew her from history class. She stopped and peered at him, looked embarassed, and wavered at the door.

We begged her to talk to us. She shook her head and we all groaned as the door closed behind her. She went in briefly, then came back out, and sat for an hour in her car. The young man stood silently, praying, and watched her car. Sadly, she finally went back in the center, but then, came out again. She was in and out several times, and on the phone much of the time. We assume she was conflicted and didn't know how to tell her parents.  She was likely in discussion with the baby's father.

All of us pleaded with her. In the end, she went in, and this time, stayed in. As far as we know, she aborted her child. The young man's father returned and we thanked him for his courage in being there. He sprinted to his car. We still believe God sent him there just for her and maybe after we left, she changed her mind. I pray that was the purpose of him showing up.

You may never know why God has called you. Sometimes you only know He HAS.
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Ephesians 4:1-3 

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Romans 12:4 

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

2 Peter 1:10 

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

Romans 11:29

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.