Romans 8:13-15 (ESV)

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sonsof God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Do the lost know we are being led by the Spirit to say and do what we are asked? That is a hard one to prove to the lost. The motivation of the heart are not under examination by the lost, our actions are the only observations they can see. They do not yet have spiritual eyes and ears. If falls upon us to make sure that we are hearing by faith and obeying by faith. If we can do that, God can do the rest.

It is easy to fall back into the role of the fixer. Men are raised to fix it. If it is broken fix it. There has to be a certain amount of detachment in witnessing because we want to see results. God is willing to take His time to make sure salvation is found through God and not us. We save no one. We speak truth and allow truth to do its work.

When we get to know the lost there is a sincere desire for them to come to know God. That is God’s desire and because of the indwelling love of Christ, it is our heart. When we feel this need to fix it that is the time to pray. Our first instinct is to fix it. Our first instinct as sons of adoption should be to seek instructions from the Father on what to do next. Patience is required. Patience is developed in us because it is not natural in us.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (ESV)

⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 

⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

I am looking at the words proper time and wondering if this has anything to do with God’s perfect timing. Testimonies for the most part are meant to witness to the lost. Yes they can be encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ, but I am thinking about the lost here.

When we witness to the lost and give our testimony, what is it we want to say first? Should it be about the grace of God? Should it be our transformed life? Should it be the peace of God? I do believe we all have a witness with valid reasons as to why we believe. This is why we do believe.

Do the lost need to hear the whole truth all in one setting? Do they need to know first about the ransom paid to set us free before they even know that they are in bondage? This is one of the finer details of witnessing that some overlook because of our zeal to share our stories.

I am thinking medical triage. What is the patient suffering from? An examination has to be performed to see what is wrong with the lost person in front of us. It is not always easy to use sensitivity during the examination. Patients do not like to be probed. Allow them to speak and allow the Holy Spirit to determine the source of the pain. Keeping in close touch with the Holy Spirit during the exam will be likened to a good chest x-ray. You will still need to be able to read it correctly.

What course to take and what subjects to address will come to light.