Answers come in handy

On my Facebook profile, I have an application that gives me a daily Bible verse. It is aptly named "Daily Bible Verse." Today, the verse was 1 Peter 3:15.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." (NIV)


This verse really reasonated with me when I read it. Especially when it says "be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have." I have to do this all the time (as I'm sure many of you do). Is it easy? Not always. Sometimes my readers ask me questions that I've never thought about before. In those cases I don't have a previously thought-about answer. Thankfully, the Lord usually provides me with words. But sometimes I do have to say "I don't know." There's nothing wrong with this. I don't know all of God's secrets. But it is so important to my work here to have an answer for my hope in Christ. Really, it's vital to all of our lives, whether you work for a church or you work in a garage. This answer can greatly impact the Kingdom of God and someone's eternity.

The last part, "with gentleness and respect," is important also. If we do not respect others, they will not respect us, perhaps to the point of not listening or outright rejecting what we have to say. Now, I'm not the best example of gentleness in an intense discussion or argument (as some of you know from experience. Sorry about that). But I'm learning, as I hope we all are.

I don't think it is completely a coincidence that it was that particular verse that I read on my profile today. Here's why. Yesterday, I had a 2-hour long conversation with a reader about why I believe in the Bible and he doesn't. We discussed his doubts, and many times he wanted me to give him an answer or at least give him some thoughts to help him find answers. I had never talked about some of those topics before. (Plus, my voice wasn't 100% because of this darn cold.) Thankfully, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to guide the conversation and strengthen my voice, from the questions that came to my mind about the lesson to the words that came out of my mouth to the understanding that both my reader and I had of what the other said. Some of the questions I asked him about the lesson were ones that I had never thought of in 4 years of LST work. Coincidence? I think not. It was so obvious to me during and after the lesson that Holy Spirit was there. It also helped that the Lord had taught me about the answers to some of my reader's questions in previous college classes, Bible classes, random conversations, reading sessions, and my own studies. It was a great lesson for me to learn the importance of the wise words in 1 Peter 3:15.

I will leave you with a quote from one of my readers today. This is from a conversation about making the choice to follow Jesus. "If we stay in the middle, He (God) will throw up."