Paralysed by need

Have you ever found yourself paralysed by the sheer overwhelming scale of something?  Maybe it's the state of the playroom when the children have gone to bed, or the floor after the children have eaten with friends, or maybe it's the scale of the project you have on at work and you find yourself asking where do I start?  You find yourself paralysed by the sheer scale of what is ahead of you, its seems almost too big for you to take on.  The danger is that we do nothing because the project is too big or that we feel defeated before we even start.

That is how I think we often feel when we hear a sermon or a talk about sharing the gospel with the world.  The world is so big, so hostile, that we find ourselves paralysed.  It's the same when we talk about the UK, 60 million people, 'Where do I start?' the task is too big.   It may be the same for us in the work place when we hear that on average only 1 in 70 employees is a Christian - most of us don't feel a Pauline excitement and hit of adrenaline we feel fear and paralysis.

Whilst Jesus sets the big picture for his disciples, Acts 1:8 "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  A pretty overwhelming task when you consider the hostility of the Jews and the size of the embryonic church of 120.  Jesus doesn't stop there he empowers them for the mission by giving his Spirit.

And as they witness to Jesus there are big breakthrough moments like Pentecost, and the highly significant summary verses which recount God working to add many to their number.  But as you read Acts you can't help but be struck by the number of individual names, encounters and conversions that we see (Saul to Paul, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Cornelius, possessed slave girl, Lydia, Philippian Jailer, Jason, Dionysius, Damaris, Apollos and so on).  The big picture of the spread of the gospel is fulfilled through everyday encounters and witnessing to Jesus.

As I look at Doncaster sometimes the gospel need is paralysing, it is poorly impacted by the gospel even for Yorkshire, probably the least reached county in England.  But Jesus invites and empowers me not to witness to Doncaster all in one go but through one on one, day by day, interactions, encounters and friendships when I show and speak of the love of Christ my Saviour and that knowing God is truly life indeed.