A late night with a lady taxi driver

Ok a wonderful post by Zheng Jye. *hehe*
Have a good read. (though it's a bit long)

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A late night with a lady taxi driver
Posted on Mar 18, '05 3:13 PM ET for everyone

So I left the beloved and got in the cab. The driver was friendly, and chatty. Perhaps it was the hour, perhaps I just needed to talk off some of the nervousness - but we had a broad conversation. We didn't go very deep, but we covered quite a bit, from parents, to how graduates sometimes reject "low-paying" jobs, to the current prices of a pool game, to interests. That's when things got more interesting. (for me, at least) She's not a believer, so the advice she offered was just practical good sense - like just informing your parents when you'll be late, because at least they won't stay awake wondering where you are.I don't know why I was a little twitchy tonight - fearful expectation of judgment, perhaps? Heh. So I'm praying quietly in tongues throughout the night when there's opportunity, yes, even during the conversation with the driver. When you need help, you need help. A starving man doesn't care if food's coming every 5 minutes or every hour - he just wants food. No starving man looks at food and says, "Oh, that's too little, I'll wait until there's more food until I eat." The hungry man just eats. So I was in that sort of strait.Anyway, the conversation got interesting. She asked me whether I go dancing (clubbing, but she put it as dancing. We were conversing in Chinese.). I said no, gave her the natural reasons why - costly (especially when you live in Sembawang) and unhealthy (ridiculous hours). Then she asked whether I played pool often, and I said no. She went on about some of her own interests, like traveling - it broadened her mind; and besides, she never knew when she was going to die, so it was best to get all the experiences she could. She was going to Hokkaido and probably Taiwan too. There was a silence in the taxi for a while.And I couldn't help myself, and I said, "But I'm different. I'm a Christian, and things are different. Things don't interest me like how they used to." So we talked a bit about religion. Nothing theological, no preaching, no scripture - just me saying things like, "Once you know Him, things are different." "He really changed my life." "He's not like the other gods." "I see things really differently." "It's a beautiful change." - that sort of thing... And I realized somewhat dimly I was getting refreshed, which was unusual. Normally I associate refreshing with serious sharing, you know? Bible passage and verse, Greek and Hebrew, types and shadows, a receptive audience.But there in that cab... It was just a man talking about his friend, to someone who didn't know his friend yet.The cab stopped at my place, and as she was giving me my change, she just commented, "You're quite good-looking." I smiled, thanked her and left. I wish I had told her, "It's the glory." or something spiritual like that, but I think God had made His point. Perhaps someday in a desperate time, she will remember this conversation, with a young man and his God who was different, who changed his life, who was a real person to another human being just like her.I thought witnessing was something difficult, you know? Having to persuade people, tell them of God's forgiveness, what Jesus did on the Cross - of course, the finished work is the best thing you can ever tell anyone. But tonight, I learned it's much simpler. I only spoke what I knew, what my Father and friend was to me, and that my life had changed. I was refreshed. Perhaps she was. Anyway, I learned my lesson. =)You know, the one of the first recorded incidences of someone bringing someone else to Christ is in John 1. It's very simple. Only 3 words - "Come and see." It was spoken by Philip to Nathanael. Jesus said the same words the day before - "Come and see." The Samaritan woman at the well said the same thing to those who would hear her - "Come and see." I thought that I needed to be some sort of exemplar, to say such a thing, so that people would want to hear me, to find out what made me a success. But tonight, I am corrected. Philip had just been called by Jesus when he spoke to Nathanael. The woman at the well had only spoken to Jesus once. Examples of success, that the world envied? Hardly. One a commoner of whom little is spoken of later, the other a woman who had known many men, looking for love in all the wrong places. A great and vast knowledge of Scripture? Hardly. One a day-old convert, the other only knowing of one conversation. What did they have in common? They recognized Jesus as a savior. In the case of the woman, not even a certain recognition, for she said, "Could this be the Messiah?"What was the result? "And many more believed." Why? "Because of His own word." Jesus will explain Himself, don't you worry. No extensive knowledge or explanation on your part is required. Not because of His miracles, not because of His behavior, not because of His moral fiber, not because of His holiness, but because of His word - they will believe. We only have to say what we know - "This man changed me, saved me. Come and see."Jesus makes the difference. So little shared, yet I was refreshed. Little to me, but a seed looks that way, doesn't it? We've been well-taught to bring Jesus into our trials, problems and challenges. We claim promises, and that is good. We listen to sermons, and that is good. We worship and praise, and that is good. We pray in tongues, and that is good. We complain to God, and that is good. We talk to Him about it, and that is good.But it's really much simpler. Even when we don't have the faith to believe God hears, even when we really can't praise Him, even when tongues seems like a nonsensical work, even when not a single promise seems true, even when we can't fight the good fight of faith - His love, and His finished work at the Cross doesn't change. Jesus Christ did a perfect work, and a strong work. Whether I think so, whether I feel so. A work stronger than my weakness, a victory greater than my unbelief. And when knowledge vanishes away, tongues cease and prophecies fail, that which we heard from the beginning still stands - Jesus is Saviour. Jesus is Saviour.He saves.He delivers.He heals.That's His business.Jesus is Saviour - the first work we all did, when we were unbelievers, dead in our sins and enemies of God, without any faith to speak of. Just a simple recognition - Jesus is Saviour.Got a problem today? Jesus is Saviour. He will help you.Grace is with you, beloved. I love you.