Today was one of those days that reminded me that this is all so worth it.
Small group sharing today went much better than the first one during the middle of the semester (where we all literally shared for less than a few minutes about superficial things and blabbering the ‘right’ answers).
Today, sharing went for a little more than 5 hours and 45 minutes. Not saying that I believe that quality is measured by time, but this was definitely a drastic change from the first time around. Especially given the dynamics of our group. I think our group is made up of 70% non-Christians who are seeking, 20% who are lazy Christians, and maybe 10% who are actually fighting their hearts to grow. (This is all probably a little reflective of how I’m doing spiritually). Anyway, we’re made up of the most diverse group of people imaginable–not your typical cfc churchgoers. If it weren’t for Christ and small group, I would not even speak with a lot of these guys, and I told them this straight-up.
But today was good–a lot of them were very honest with their struggles and questions about the faith, one of the older guys shared a 40 minute testimony about his family and it was really encouraging for the small group…after that, everyone else started opening up like crazy about their family situations. One non-Christian guy was really encouraging and shared about how he started reading the Bible for some reason a couple weeks ago, but he doesn’t know why…
I definitely wasn’t the most prepared for this sharing as I had classes all morning and took a nap and hastily prepared everything before sharing (we ordered Rosati’s deep dish pizza–kinda shows my laziness), and God showed me again that it wasn’t about me, it was about Him.
Before I forget, this was my driving point. Paraphrased from the book ‘Jesus Freaks II’ by DC Talk (225-231).
Constantine, the Roman emperor, was a non-Christian and hadn’t even heard about Christ. But he had been taught by his father to believe in prayer, even though it was to Sol, the “unconquerable sun.” However, Constantine was a man hungry to know God and could be found in his tent in fervent prayer. His prayer was simple, yet earnest. “Reveal to me who you are, your true nature … and stretch forth your right hand to help me in these coming difficulties.”
As he continued praying, a ruckus began to grow outside. One of Constantine’s servants then entered the tent and motioned for him to follow. When Constantine emerged, he saw his troops all gazing upwards and pointing. When he followed their gaze, he too was awestruck by what they were looking at. It was the answer to his prayer, though he didn’t know it at the time. There in the sky, shining brighter than the early afternoon sun, was a cross with the inscription beneath it, “Conquer by this.” It was not the “unconquerable sun” who had answered, but the “Unconquerable Son.”
Constantine pondered the meaning of this vision the rest of the day, attempting to make sense of its message. Yet that night, when he finally got to sleep, he had the answer: Jesus came to him in a dream with the same sign. “Make a likeness of this sign which you also saw in the heavens, and it will be a protection in all of your confrontations with your enemies.” Thus the cross became the symbol that was carried before the armies of Rome wherever they went.
In a later dream as they approached more closely to Rome, it is also believed that Jesus again appeared to Constantine and instructed him to “mark the shields of your men with the heavenly sign of God.” This sign was a melding of the letters Chi (X) and Rho (P), the first two letters of the word “Christ.” He thus marched into battle behind the sign of the cross and the name of Christ and won a decisive battle over Maxentius’s troops at the Milvian Bridge outside of Rome in A.D. 312, which secured his place as emperor of the western half of the Roman Empire.
My Thoughts
The most encouraging aspect about this passage was that Constantine wasn’t even Christian! And he had no idea what the cross meant and had little to no understanding of God and Jesus Christ. But yet, he earnestly seeked God through prayer, asking God to reveal Himself, and God answered his prayer in a supernatural way. Even though he wasn’t even Christian and probably had wrong motives about praying, God still answered his prayer. For non-believers, if you seek God earnestly, He will reveal Himself to you. For believers, if God was willing to reveal himself to an oblivious non-believer and answer his prayer, how much more will He reveal Himself to His children and answer our prayers! The problem is that we don’t seek! Let us pray, seek God, and ask Him to reveal to us His goodness and Himself. For surely He wants to and will answer this prayer.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8-
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. -Hebrews 11:6-
Posted by Frankie 
Hmmm... 