President’s Perspective: Proportion of Our Success

President’s Perspective: Proportion of Our Success

Yesterday I arrived at the airport a couple of hours early for my flight back home. When I got to my gate it was empty except for one middle-aged lady sitting in a wheelchair.  Over the next hour and a half we engaged in a lively, friendly conversation. In the course of the conversation she found out I was a Seventh-day Adventist. She told me of her health struggles, which included cancer. When I shared with her that my wife was also dealing with cancer and was receiving medical treatments, which seem to be working well, she looked at me puzzled. “Are you not like Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding medical treatment?” I shared with her that we embrace healthful living as a part of our understanding of the teachings of Scripture, and told her of the many Adventist hospitals and clinics around the country including Loma Linda Medical Center. She recognized Loma Linda, but did not know it was Adventist. 

She then said “I never figured out why people worship on Sunday.”  We talked a little bit out about Sabbath in the Bible, and how both political and religious factors had led many in the past to begin worship on the first day of the week.

As we moved on to other issues I reviewed in my mind, my prayer earlier yesterday morning. “Lord, may I meet someone today that I can be a witness to.”  God provided an answer at the airport.

I could have turned to several Scripture passages to “prove” Sabbath to the lady. Rather I chose to listen to her share of the pain of her medical challenges, which opened the door for deeper conversation, and her own statements of faith. My prayer is that through out conversation she came to a new understanding about the Bible and Seventh-day Adventists from a person who cared for her.

“We live in a hard, unfeeling, uncharitable world. Satan and his confederacy are plying every art to seduce the souls for whom Christ has given His precious life. Every one who loves God in sincerity and truth, will love the souls for whom Christ has died. If we wish to do good to souls, our success with these souls will be in proportion to their belief in our belief in, and appreciation of, them. “Fundamentals of Christian Education p. 281

May God place someone in your path today to whom you may reveal His love in real and concrete ways.

Mike Edge, President