Psalm 37:23 – The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
Though raised in a Christian home with a mom and dad who were faithful to church and to the Lord, my salvation was something with which I struggled. I went back and forth about it in my mind for twenty-three years. I was following in the steps of the world and living a life of sin. On January 19, 2011, I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I became a testament to others that God can save anyone at any age, no matter the circumstance!
After getting my salvation settled, I was baptized the following Sunday and quickly wanted to start serving the Lord with my life. I started coming to Saturday soulwinning, but I was very nervous! Talking to people and knocking on doors was not something with which I felt comfortable. However, I knew that God had commanded me to do it, and I asked the Lord for help. After going soulwinning for some time, I was able to see many who asked Jesus to come into their hearts, just as I recently had done.
One Saturday, I went soulwinning with my friend Tracie, and we were knocking on doors down a certain street. We came to our last door, and still no one was home; no one had been saved. She grabbed my arm as we walked to the car and said, “You know what, let’s just go across the street and see if anyone is home. We’ll knock on this one last door.” We did. We knocked on the door, and a young teenage girl came to the door. We showed her from the Bible how to be saved, and she ended up accepting Christ as her Saviour. I will never forget that day! If we just go—doing right by obeying God’s command—He will bless our efforts.
Sometime later, I was sitting in church as I do on any other Sunday and Wednesday and, all of a sudden, the Holy spirit whispered in my ear, I want you to teach Sunday school. I had a conversation in my heart that went something like this: Well, I don’t think so, Lord. I’m very nervous in front of people, and I start rambling and almost pass out! After that service, I tried to forget what He told me.
The next service He spoke again, and the next, and the next! It did not even matter what the topic of the sermon was. The Lord would not leave me alone about teaching Sunday school. After this continued for some time, I decided to go talk to my pastor about what God kept telling me I was supposed to do. My pastor responded in a way I was not expecting. He said something like this: “I have been praying for the same thing. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me because God already told me that He wanted you to teach Sunday school.” Let us just say that I was shocked, but at the same time, I knew this was what God obviously wanted me to do and that I needed to do it! Teaching on my first Sunday, I was so nervous and honestly fearful of saying something wrong. However, I trusted the Lord, and He helped me. The lesson was about salvation, and after the closing prayer, I asked the entire class if they knew for sure that they were saved. One of the young girls came to me and asked if she could get saved. I showed her how to ask Jesus into her heart, and she got her salvation settled that day. I was so excited because there is nothing that compares to telling someone about Jesus!
We must remember that Psalm 37:23 says, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:… Just as I was back then, sometimes we can be so stubborn in our Christian lives. We actually tell the Lord, “No way! I don’t think so,” because we do not have confidence in Him. We must be quick to remember that we have the Holy Spirit with us to lead our steps and to go along with us. If He is telling us to do something, we should step out in faith and just trust Him. Tracie and I decided to listen to the Lord and trust Him that day when we were out soulwinning. We knocked on one more door, and because we obeyed the Holy Spirit’s leading, a soul was saved. Because I finally listened to the Lord and taught Sunday school, a soul was saved. If we just trust Him and let Him lead our steps, He will do the rest. Imagine what great things the Lord will do through us if we will just let Him order our steps!
by Mandy Harper
