Who knew that I would get so dissappointed while handing out cards promoting a church on the street corner of San Francisco in the rain. Some people would walk right by and not even make eye contact, some would give you the hand, and others would say no thankyou.
This morning before we went into the city I read John 15. The verse that I meditated on all day is verse 18 which says if they hate you, remember that they hated me first. Also, verse 20 says if they persecute you, remember they persecuted me first.
When I remebered this, it made me think of how small my persecution was compared to the persecution Jesus and the disciples received- beatings, being spit on, and ultimately death. When people rejected our info cards, we were being persecuted. But it is hard to call it persecution when we compare it to the persecution that Christ received. They weren't spitting on us or beating us. This experience reminds me to daily ask myself, what am I doing that would cause people to persecute me? If I am living out the christian life, I should face persecution.
Although many people were rude, there were the few people who were very thankful for the card and there were those fellow christians who said encouraging words. I thanked God when a brother/sister in Christ encouraged us.
I was very discouraged at different times today, but God is using us. Normally the epic website receives about 30-40 hits and day and today it received over 300.
Tomorrow we will spend another 6 hours handing out info cards about epic church.
