As Matt was leaving, he noticed the cabinet maker was also finishing up. They exchanged a few words and Matt noticed as they spoke that the man’s eyes had pain and loneliness in them. Matt only paused momentarily before heading out the door. “See you later,” he said.
Matt felt crushed during his entire drive home. How could I do that to somebody? Matt thought to himself. Here, I have so much hope in my life. I have just the hope he needs, and yet I just walked out the door.
Matt did have a lot of hope. In fact, just recently he and his wife Nicole experienced a radical change and healing in their lives. After years of prayer, Nicole suddenly no longer had depression (read Nicole’s story here) and both of them were positively euphoric. It all happened in November 2018 and Matt still remembers experiencing God’s presence in such a new and deeper way that entire month.
“I was listening to worship music for eight hours a day for a month straight,” recalls Matt, a carpenter who works in the trades. “I would be worshipping God and the Holy Spirit would just come on me. I felt like I could hear the voice of God so clearly and feel the love He has for me. I would just drop to my knees in the middle of work.”
But as Matt drove home that day after his encounter with the cabinet maker, he resolved right then and there that he would never do that again. From now on, Matt resolved, if people ask me how I’m doing, I will always say more than ‘I’m ok’.
Matt also resolved that he would share the gospel and try as much as he could to find a natural way to share so it wouldn’t feel forced.
A few days later while Matt was working on another house, he felt compelled to reach out to the siders – a father and son team. On that particular day, it was only the father, Ray, who was on the job. Matt first prayed silently to himself, “God what do you want me to say to him? Just give me a word for Ray.” The word diligence entered Matt’s mind.
So, Matt took Ray aside. “Ray, I don’t want to make this weird or anything, but God just told me He loves your diligence, and He loves you so much.” Ray looked a little taken aback – not upset, just registering the words that came out of Matt’s mouth. It certainly wasn’t an everyday occurrence.
Making conversation, Matt asked Ray where Ray’s son was. “Terry’s in Calgary today, getting some MRI’s,” said Ray. He then proceeded to share about his son’s anxiety and depression. The young man had been experiencing vertigo – less than ideal when working with heights! Hopefully the MRI might shed some light on Terry’s condition.
The next day, Terry was back on the job. Matt saw him working up on the ladder and wished he could find a way to talk to him. It wouldn’t make sense to call him down from the ladder because he was working, and besides, that would be weird. The idea was to make these interactions feel as natural as possible – not something forced.
Matt walked around the house once and prayed, “God if you want me to say something to Terry would you please bring him off the ladder.” Not too long after that, Terry came down from the ladder. “Terry, I heard you had some troubles and haven’t been doing so well,” said Matt. “I’m sorry to hear that.” Terry suddenly started pouring his heart out and sharing about this struggles with Matt.
“Terry my wife just went through this exact same thing,” said Matt after Terry shared. “She struggled
with anxiety and depression for five years… and God took it away in five minutes. I believe God can do that for you too.”
Matt continued to explain where he gets his hope from and how Terry was not created to be in this struggle but to experience God’s love. “Can I pray with you right now?” Matt finally asked. Terry agreed, and when he concluded his prayer, the two of them hugged. Matt gave him his number and told him to call for a chat any time.
The next day Matt got a text from Terry. “I feel so much better today,” the text said. “When are your church services? I’d like to try this out.”
Designed to share
Today, Matt continues to reach out to the people God puts in his path.
“God gave us the commandment to love our neighbour,” says Matt. “I have this deep overwhelming love for God and he gave me the eyes to see people the way he sees people. And to love a broken world that has no hope.”
When Matt sees people through God’s eyes, he can’t help but share it. Matt doesn’t have a particular method or a script, and no encounter is ever the same. “If the good news is as good as we say it is, why don’t we share it?” says Matt, who often shares about how God showed up in his life and his wife Nicole’s life during their deep struggle with Nicole’s depression. “We can’t hide in the church walls any more. It’s the greatest news and it’s how we were created to live. What a waste if all we did is struggle through life as Christians, and then die and go to heaven… but only in heaven things get better. No! I want to live life experiencing my inherent value as an image bearer of God and to take that out into the world.
When you get a taste of God’s glory and kingdom, nothing else comes even close. I get to go around and plant seeds, or water them, and enjoy a rich harvest for his kingdom.”
