Hearts that resist Christ

Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act (Psalm 37:7).

You may be familiar with the works of C. S. Lewis, the famous Christian writer. What you might not be familiar with is the story of his family. In his sixties, Lewis married Joy Gresham—an American divorcee with two sons. After she died of cancer, C. S. Lewis committed himself to caring for the boys—but Lewis himself died only two years later.

The youngest son, Douglas, later got married and moved to Tasmania. Neither he nor his wife had any interest in Christ or Christianity. One day, Wheaton College asked Douglas to participate in a tribute to his famous stepfather—and as an honorarium, the college gave him a folio of C. S. Lewis’ books on audio tape.

Douglas’ wife Mary began listening to the tapes, and eventually at age 40 became a believer in Christ. And after seven more years of prayerful diligence, she was successful in introducing her husband to Christ, and Douglas finally became a believer as well.

Too often, we expect things to happen immediately. We think that after we have finally convinced a friend to attend church with us once, they ought to become a believer on the spot. We think that years of Sunday School and Confirmation should be enough exposure to religion to place life-long faith in our children. But the sinful heart is a stubborn thing—sometimes it seems as if no matter what we say or do, a person that we love continues to reject every attempt to bring them into a loving relationship with Jesus. Yet a timeless God said: Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass (Isaiah 37:26). Things don’t always happen quickly; running water can wear down a rock, but it takes a long time. Just because a person does not welcome Jesus into their heart now, does not necessarily mean that they will continue to reject Christ for the rest of their days. Romans 12:12 tells us: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. How long are you willing to pray for those in your sphere of influence? How much effort are you willing to devote to bring a stubborn loved one to the Savior? Don’t give up—you never know on what day the Lord might break His way into a stony heart.