What Happens When…..

Written by Ray Willis

Have you ever been involved with a birthing class? In 1994, my wife and I went to a Lemans class for ten weeks to prepare for the birth of our first child. I recall the deepening anxiety we felt as the instructor explained what would physically happen as the child and mother experience the birthing process. Then the questions started: What happens when ______ (fill in the blank). It seemed that anything and everything was a potential issue or problem, and the instructor always ended with the reassuring phrase “That’s normal for child-birth.”

What about when we’re discipling? What happens when the process varies from what we expect? What do we do when asked questions we aren’t prepared for? What if they don’t respond to the process like the last person we discipled?!

Well, that sort of thing happens all the time because discipleship isn’t formulaic, and people can sometimes get in the way of our plans. So, what do we do when stuff happens? It’s simple really. We serve them by helping them draw closer and closer to Jesus. And, as they draw close to Him, Scripture promises that He will transform them into a new creature.