Discipleship is a process, like most things in life. It’s an up-and-down road full of twists and turns. One guy became offended with his pastor and decided not to attend church for a while. I asked him to pray about this decision and see what God was saying about it. He prayed and said to me, “God told me to keep going to church.”

But he didn’t want to obey—and continued to stay away from church. The next time I met with him, I warned him that this was a slippery slope, and that one thing can lead to another when we actively disobey God. Our hearts can grow cold—fast!

He had decided, and he was staying away.

Over the next weeks, I could see his spiritual hunger and practices start to fall apart. We met regularly, but he was less interested in talking about Jesus, and even our friendship began to grow weak. The change in him saddened my heart. 

But the Holy Spirit is the one who draws hearts, and even though we are fickle, He can work with that. Two weeks ago, my guy showed up at church again! He was all excited, and there was life in his voice again; he said he was asking himself why he left in the first place. 

We had our Christian book study meet-up, and he was saying he wanted to have a prayer meeting together, all while he’s still up and down with going to church. So I’m doing my best to ‘roll with the punches’, so to speak. Ha! 

We never know what God is up to in the background of people’s lives. And I, for one, can never predict how someone’s path will turn, but I’m learning to embrace the moments as they come, believing the Word… 

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth…”—Isaiah 42:16 NIV