From the May-August 2010 Issue
Walls to be broken down
Dawid and Agnieska Koziol
Dwight L. Moody describes a situation when he couldn’t see much fruit for his labour as a preacher of the Gospel, and because of that he felt rather miserable. In such a state he was visited by an elderly brother who encouraged him to study the life of Noah! What seemed rather strange advice at first was a source of great encouragement for Mr. Moody. In Noah he discovered a man who “toiled and worked for a hundred and twenty years and didn’t get discouraged…he never saw a prayer meeting outside of his own family”1, and yet he worked. That little study changed the attitude of D. L. Moody, who started to see even small things as the great blessing of the Lord. It seems that in our times we often need Noah’s attitude; this “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) remains a great encouragement for us in the present day.
Unbelief
Probably we are not an exception in what we see and experience here in Żywiec. We see the great and hard “wall” in people’s hearts that causes them to be impervious to anything connected with the Gospel. This wall is unbelief in the saving work of Christ at Calvary. Whatever we do and no matter how hard we try, we always face this wall in the life of unbelievers, which causes even our neighbours and friends to turn away when they are confronted with the Gospel, or even a mention of Christ. One would expect that speaking about Christ in a so-called Christian country like Poland wouldn’t be so difficult, but in reality the opposite is true. The wall of unbelief in people’s hearts remains unshaken.
Of course there are exceptions. There are still people who seem to be more open-minded and not so antagonistic, who even are ready to listen and discuss. They are the kind of people whom we think of as potential converts, but the wall of unbelief remains in their life as well. We are even more disappointed when we face that wall in people who from the start are closed and unfriendly. That is where we need Noah’s attitude; to be ready to speak to them, discuss, and challenge them, even if nothing seems to happen in their lives, or even if we do that for years and still nothing seems to happen.
Discouragement
That sense of discouragement is particularly strong after big events in the church, when almost all the members have opportunities to distribute some literature and speak with people, or be involved in the mission in various ways. When we finish that work or action we experience a sense of fulfilment, but after some time we realise how little we can do when we face that wall; we can feel rather sad and disappointed. But it’s not a bad sign, for when we face the end of our abilities we learn how to trust the Wall-breaker, the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Indifference
Yet, in another way it is a challenge for us. When we see people who are indifferent to the Gospel, we may be caught in the trap of discouragement. In other words, the wall could be built in our own life too; we may become indifferent to those who need us and the message we proclaim. We may simply take the attitude of another Old Testament hero, that of Jonah, who instead of calling for repentance was just sitting and waiting for God’s judgement upon those heathen and godless people. The wall of indifference towards unsaved people could be as bad as the wall of unbelief.
Therefore, we not only pray for the salvation of our countrymen, for the walls of unbelief in their hearts to be broken down, but we also pray that our own hearts will be free from discouragement and indifference towards their destiny without Christ. May the Lord make us love them, and to be encouraged by the small things that we can see in the life of our fellowship. We definitely need to learn more about our own strength, or rather our lack of it, and that makes us trust the One who has all power to demolish the walls and save souls. We still need to learn that salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9) and that we are only His tools, praying to be used for His glory.