Jim, a Christian friend, mentioned to me a few years ago that he was going to Cuba with a Christian group.  He said that he wasn’t sure what he would be doing but realized that over the years the most important thing he could do was just show up.  He said that he found that God’s grace was at work in any given situation or need. Since then, he and his team have gone on ten of these trips, and their efforts have led to over five thousand professions of faith by individual Cubans. More recently, they have been going to Mongolia with the same kind of results. 

His response reminds me a of the passage in the Bible where the prophet, Isaiah is in the temple and hears the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?”  Isaiah says, “Here I am. Send me!”  (Isaiah 6:8)

Several years ago, I was asked to help start a local chapter of Christians in Commerce, now called WorkLight (WorkLight | Workplace Ministry Helping Christians at Work.  Its mission is “to encourage and equip Christians to be God’s presence in the workplace by the power of the Holy Spirit, exercising faith, integrity and excellence.” I contacted a few close Christian friends, and we invited about 20 men on a weekend retreat. 

The Northern Virginia chapter was established and has been meeting every Wednesday morning since May 1985, albeit by Zoom in recent years.  Over the years, hundreds of men have been invited to experience the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a much fuller way, countless lives have been changed through these retreats and weekly meetings, and many workplaces impacted. 

I didn’t do anything special.  Like my friend Jim said, I just showed up.  God was already there through his Holy Spirit, touching and changing lives.

Are you showing up to be God’s presence to the people in your life?