During our visit with the church in Lima last month, God gave the me opportunity to share the gospel with a lady I met. One day while I was studying for the sermon that I was going to preach, the doorbell to the church building rang. When I went down, there was a woman at the door that was looking for help. She told me she was being tormented by demons and she needed someone to help her.
This was an opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to her. Her great need was to repent and believe, although she believed that putting oil on the doors of her house, giving money to the church, or attending worship services would be sufficient. Certain churches she had attended taught her to fight against demons through those sorts of rituals.
I explained to her that there is no outward ritual that can set her free, but only repentance from her sins and trust in Christ. I also explained that her repentance and faith in Christ should not be compelled by a desire merely to be free from her affliction, but because she sees her sinful condition and her need to be saved from sin and because she is coming to Christ out of love for Him.
I was with her for about 30 minutes, listening and explaining the gospel. She cried a lot. In the end, she understood that her greatest need was Christ and she promised that she would begin attending a church. She continues calling me still in order to tell me that she is attending the church in Lima. She wants to continue learning about God and the Scriptures. This desire of her heart—to worship with the church and learn about God—gives me joy. It is my prayer that her repentance would be unto eternal life and that her faith would be confirmed as she lives out her faith in the context of the church.
One of the things that impacted my heart through this interaction is the providence of God in this lady’s life. That is, I don’t believe in mere happenstance, but in divine providence. That day I decided to stay at the church building with my family a little longer so that I could work on the sermon. That day this lady was looking for help, and if I were not present there would have been nobody else in the building when she came by. I believe the Lord put me in the path of this woman in order that I would preach the gospel to her and I did so as if it were the last time that I would see her. Today I realize that God is continuing to work in her heart and it is my prayer that she is truly a citizen of the kingdom of God.
