Sharing the Embers of Your Heart
How to Share the Gospel When Your Faith Seems Dry
by Alexis Kanode
One evening my husband and I went out to dinner for a date night. It was our first date in six months, and we needed it. We were walking through a difficult season of our marriage and were both experiencing a spiritual drought in our own right.
A series of events just a few weeks earlier left me wrecked and feeling like I was not enough for God and would never be enough for his kingdom. Needless to say, I wasn’t thinking about sharing the gospel, but wouldn’t you know, that is exactly what the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do.
I ignored his promptings until the end of our dinner, when my husband and I began asking our waitress about her life. A few questions in, I felt prompted to pray for her and asked if there was anything specific for which we could pray. She didn’t open up right away, but after a few more questions she began to cry, explaining that her mother had breast cancer and none of the treatments were working. Instead, she had stopped her treatments and had gone to Mexico to do a cleanse in hopes that natural remedies would cure her cancer.
My heart broke for our waitress as she shared her story, and my husband and I prayed for her on the spot. We prayed for peace for our waitress and healing for her mother in Jesus’s name. God used my husband and me as his vessels, even as we were in a season of heaviness—when it felt like all I had left to the fire of my faith were a few embers.
If I’m being honest, sometimes it can feel more difficult to share my faith when all that remains are embers, but in those moments God is faithful.
Matthew 12:18–21 quotes scripture from Isaiah 42 (a prophecy that has now been fulfilled through the coming of Jesus).The specific verse I want to focus on says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
When all that remains are the embers of my faith, God is still faithful.
See, when it feels like all we have left are embers in our heart, Jesus is faithful not to snuff us out. Instead, he breathes life into our hearts to build the fire back up until it is inflamed once more.
As we await his breath of life to come and fill our hearts, our calling to fulfill the great commission hasn’t stopped. So how can we share the gospel during periods of spiritual drought? Here are four tips for sharing the gospel with others, even when your faith is dry.
- Read the Bible. James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” This is why it’s important to stay in God’s Word. As you draw near to him, he will draw near to you, and soon you will see the embers of your heart transform into flames.
- Remain faithful. Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” It’s important to be faithful in our everyday lives as we have opportunities to share the gospel at the coffee shop, in the grocery store, and with our neighbors.
- Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s nudging. Romans 8:14 says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you as you interact with others; he will prompt you to share the love of Christ.
- Share anyway. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what someone may think as we share the gospel, but share anyway. If our will is aligned with God’s will, we can’t go wrong.
Everyday moments become divine moments when we are faithful to share the gospel.
These are the four things I did during seasons of spiritual dryness. As I continued sharing the love of Christ and drawing near to him, he drew near to me. Soon, I felt those embers turning into a flame again.
God simply asks for our faithfulness, just as he is faithful to us. We have the opportunity to go into all the world and share the good news of Christ, so stay in his Word, be faithful, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and share anyway. You won’t regret it.
Alexis Kanode is an author, speaker, and small business owner who loves the outdoors. @alexiskanode
Scripture quotations are from the New International Version of the Bible.
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