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| Keleti Train Station, Budapest, Hungary |
After a ten-hour train ride from Krakow, my husband and I arrived at Keleti Train Station in Budapest in the dark of night. The station looked eerie with train tracks that seemed to run forever into the vast darkness of Europe.
A Hungarian approached us advertising a bed-and-breakfast. When we told him we lived in Budapest, he walked with us toward the exit.
“What do you do in Budapest?”
“Christian work,” Michael answered.
The man smiled and in a mocking voice said, “Ooh, I’m afraid of you. You might try to make me a Christian!”
“You don’t need to be afraid of us,” I said, “but God is after you.”
“I think God is in a tree, in the wind, in a stone,” he said.
“God isn’t who we think He is,” I responded. “God is who He says He is.”
“Have you met him?”
“Yes, we have,” Michael said. “We have a relationship with Jesus.”
“Well, I’ve looked for him, but I haven’t found him. I believe in myself.”
“When you quit believing in yourself, you’ll find Him,” I said.(1)
“We’ll pray that God reveals Himself to you,” Michael said as we headed out of the station.(2)
“Don’t pray for me,” he laughed. “I don’t believe in prayer.”(3)
“But we do,” Michael said.(4)
This man represents so many people who are riding a train toward Hell. God orchestrates stops for them, offering them salvation. And sometimes He puts us at one of those stops.
Let's be prepared to speak for Him.
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(1) Jeremiah 29:13; Psalm 10:4; Matthew 7:7-8
(2) 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Matthew 28:18-20. When this happened, we didn't feel like we were supposed to pursue the discussion with this man. We felt we had done what God wanted us to do at that point in time. Other times, God's Spirit might lead us to do more. We need to ask God's help in being sensitive to His desires in such a situation.
(3) Psalm 10:4
(4) Colossians 4:2
This is a shortened version of my original devotion about this situation which I wrote in 2008. You can read the longer version, if you're interested: Like a Train Bound for Hell.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons, Keleti Station, Budapest, Hungary.
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