Bible Study

July 2004

Finding the "One"
By Amberly Goodman, Journeyman to Russia

“Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

“Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.’”(Matt. 15:1-7)

In recent weeks, the Lord has laid on my heart the above Scripture. His Spirit has gently, as always, reminded me that our God is not only the God who created every person individually and knows them intimately, but He is also the God who seeks individuals, the God who would leave the 99 to find the lost “one.”

Is this to say that we should not conduct massive, broad-sweeping evangelism campaigns? Is this to say we should not focus our missions efforts on densely-populated countries and cities? Is this to say that Billy Graham should pack up his tent and go home?

Absolutely not.

The Lord works in the way He will, and I am glad that He uses believers of different nationalities and personalities, through different methods, to reach the nations.

However, when sitting in a very small dorm room on a very cold night, not having seen the sun literally for weeks, wondering how drinking so much tea and participating in social activities could possibly be effective for the kingdom, I ended up having a great conversation with my roommate, another international student here at this Russian university. That conversation confirmed that my work here is not in vain. It is a great comfort to know that the Lord is forever seeking the “one,” and He is using me to do it.

“Before I came here, I was the most stubborn atheist,” she said. I already knew this because she had once told me she was agnostic, and I hadn’t pressed the issue of religion.

“But since I met you, living with you, I realize that God is someone I want in my life. You have such an inner peace and you’re so kind … I heard you and Masha reading the Bible in here last week, and it really just touched me, knowing that love can be so powerful.”
I was shaking with joy as I listened. I tried to pray, “Lord, give me wisdom here.”

“I’ve met so many missionaries who are just freaks,” she said. “They are just fanatics. They pressure you. You may say, ‘I’m not interested,’ but they reply ” (at this point she widened her eyes in a mock-crazed way), “‘Yes, you are. You just don’t know it.’ But I liked what John said at this Thanksgiving thing: ‘We’re not trying to brainwash or trick anyone. We’re just trying to share our faith with whoever is interested.’ I think that when people are ready, they’re ready.”
She admitted that she longed for something consistent in her life, something eternal that would never change. I told her that, for me, that one thing was Jesus Christ. I told her that He has never and will never let me down; that He has never left nor will never leave me. “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Cor. 1:20) God is seeking my (now former) roommate. He always seeks the “one” and wants us to seek them, too.