A Good Word
A Ministry of Encouragement
editors
Julie Stephens
Sherryl Myrick
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up.
personally identifiable information
This past week I received an e-mail which seems to becoming much more common these days. The mail reads: “We were recently notified by Epsilon, a marketing vendor our company uses to manage customer emails, that an unauthorized third party gained access to a number of their accounts including our customer email list. We want to assure you that the only information obtained was your name and email address. Your account and any other personally identifiable information are not at risk. In all likelihood, this will not impact you.” I try not to worry too much about these things, but bad folks are working very hard to steal our identities.
I understand that their efforts are to steal identities for access to our financial information, but as I read the e-mail- the line, “In all likelihood, this will not impact you,” struck me in a different way. My thoughts were, “What information about me might impact others if they really were able to access my ‘personally identifiable information?’” I pray that when someone meets me, my personal identifiable information will impact them in ways of an eternal difference. What personally identifiable information about you will impact others?
I’m reminded of a personal story. In the business world I work in, I was of the opinion for years that my personal faith and the business I conducted did not mix. I didn’t want to risk losing any business relationships due to my faith; therefore, I didn’t share any personally identifiable information about myself. I was pretty much another nice salesman among the many that work in the occupation of sales. My impact was no greater than the product that I was selling. Let me add that people liked me, but knowing Robby as a nice guy made no difference in the world, or in their personal lives. I have always been a pretty private person, so I preferred not sharing much about me, but inside we all have an innate desire to make a positive difference in this world. It’s called our purpose for being here. Have you discovered your purpose? Are you making a positive difference in any person that you encounter? Did you know that you will meet thousands of people that I will never meet?
I had just picked up a large new account, and I was in the office of the manager of that particular business thanking him for the new orders. This account was tough to get, and it required about three to four presentations in front of a manager and his staff to gain the new business. I could tell very early that this manager “called the shots,” and that he had an air of arrogance about him. I’m thinking, “It will be a while before I share any personally identifiable information about my faith with this guy. He may just tell me to take my faith and my products right on down the street.” Now for the “coincidence:”
I had just finished having my book “Things Don’t Just Happen” published, and for the first time I had a few books in the trunk of my car. As I sat in this manager’s office, he’s giving me a lecture about doing business and he says, “You know Robby, things just happen.” Well, I noted that comment. But do you believe in the course of that fifteen minute conversation he said “things just happen” about three times? The third time I heard it I thought, “Lord, are You trying to tell me something here?” My heart started racing as I’m thinking, “I’m suppose to share my personally identifiable information with this manager.” Well, I chickened out. This new account was too big to even risk any chance to lose it.
I went to my car and proceeded to start the engine. I felt bad. I felt that I missed my purpose in that situation. Then the thought occurred to me: “Get your book from the trunk and take it to him.” Do you follow the promptings of your heart speaking to you? I didn’t want to follow my prompting to go back in, because he had started another meeting with a new group of people in his office, and his office door was closed. But I did it anyway. I knocked on his door, and he invited me in.
He looked up and said, “Yes Robby?” with a more serious look on his face.
I said, “Hey I want to give you something. I wrote a book,” and I placed it on his desk.
“You wrote a book?”
“Yes,” I answered. Then I added, “You kept saying that things just happen. Well they don’t really. I wrote a book about that, and it’s called Things Don’t Just Happen.”
“I’ll read it,” he replied.
Then he slid it over to the side of his desk, and looked back at his guest in his office. I politely closed the door behind, and left feeling much better about myself.
About a week later, I’m driving to my office about 7:00 AM, and I get a call on my cell phone. I answer the phone and it’s the manager. I’m thinking, “We must have made a mistake on his order, and he’s upset.” He quickly tells me who he is (I knew.) He then says, “Don’t worry about why I’m calling so early, because ya’ll have done nothing wrong.” I was relieved to hear that, but now I’m really wondering what was up? The thought of leaving him my book didn’t cross my mind. Then he told me this:
“Robby, when I first met you, I knew there was something different about you, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Now I know. You just can’t imagine how much I needed to hear what your book is saying to me! I want to thank you for sharing your faith with me. I needed to hear this. You have a good day, and I look forward to talking to you more about this personally.”
I thanked him for calling. Boy, did my spirit jump for joy! I wanted to pull my car over and run around it a few times. I later bonded closely with the manager, and he has become a dear friend to me. I now know all about his personally identifiable information, and it has changed for the better.
I know for many that sharing your faith in Christ is not something easy to do. But did you know there are people out there, like my manager friend, who want to hear it? Oh, they don’t think so at the time, and you may get an uncomfortable feeling at that moment, but the seed you plant may grow into a multi-branched tree. The Apostle Paul explains this process in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” Our job is to plant seeds. You can’t change any life, but by sharing your personally identifiable information about how your own life has been changed as a result of your faith, you WILL plant seeds.
You may be thinking, “Robby, I’d like to be able to share my faith, but I just don’t know how to go about doing it properly. Do I need to memorize “The Roman Road,” or have a gospel leaflet ready to hand out?” I write this thought out because that’s what I used to ask myself. (The Roman Road is the process of taking a person you are witnessing to through the Book of Romans, and explaining why they need a savior.) Now there is nothing wrong with either of these methods, but the most powerful tool you have is YOUR story. That’s why I have a following in this ministry; I tell real stories that have happened to me. My favorite example of this method of sharing is found in the Book of John 9:25. I use this method of sharing my personally identifiable information most of the time. This method breaks right through the most intelligent minds. I witness to folks much smarter than I am, and often times they may know the Bible much better than I do, but they can’t argue, or disprove, about what happened to me! Would you like to hear the story?
In the Gospel of John there is a story about a blind man who had this condition from birth. (We are born with a blind condition of seeking God.) The disciples ask Jesus why this guy was born in this condition, and Jesus answers: “this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3 NIV.) I’d say here that I’m a pretty good example of being born blind to following Christ, and folks can remember me when I was blind. Oh, I was a good person, but there was no evidence of the work of God being displayed in my life. So in the story, Jesus heals the blind man, and gives him the ability to see. This is significant because in the Old Testament there were many miracles of God, but not one incident of a blind person gaining their sight. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah predicted that the Christ to come would be the One to perform this miracle: “In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see” (Isaiah 29:18.) The Gospel of John says, “So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man" (John 9:7-8.) So in my sharing of my personally identifiable information, I tell about how I used to think very much like the person I’m witnessing to. I, too, had lots of doubts and disbeliefs about the Bible. Then the person I’m speaking with is interested in what I DID to change my condition. In the Bible story, the people talking to the new man asked the same questions: What did he do to change his condition? The former blind man answered that a Man healed his condition, but the people couldn’t understand how this could happen. I love his answer, and I use it all the time: “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25.)
I’m writing this lesson just one week from Easter Sunday, so I will close with an Easter message. I went through much of my life believing that Jesus lived, but not following His way. I figured I was a pretty good person; therefore, I didn’t need any help with my vision, but I was wrong. I would confess that I see fine, and I was OK with my vision of the Lord’s way, which was actually my way of seeing things. Jesus warns:
"If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:41.) But thank God, Jesus sought me out to heal my blindness toward Him. You may ask, “How do I know if I’m blind or not?” The answer is: Are you following His way, or are you doing things your own way? Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21.) He showed Himself to me by seeking me! I had rejected following His way, and my actions denied that I knew Him. (Kind of like Peter denying that he knew Jesus just before the crucifixion.) But on that first Easter Sunday morning the angel proclaims to the women seeking Jesus: “He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Robby” (Mark 16:6-7.) I inserted my name in place of Peter. I’m here to say you are to do the same! No matter what you may have done in your past, no matter what may be going on in your life now, (Peter had just denied knowing the Lord three times,) the Lord wants YOU personally by name to know He is alive. He wants to make an impact on your personable identifiable information, in order to achieve the purpose set forth in your life. You have been placed here, in this situation, no matter your age, to make a difference in this world for His glory. I encourage you now, at the end of this lesson, to silently close your eyes and ask the Lord to take direction of your life. Ask Him to allow you to make a difference in the world by disclosing your personable identifiable information to others that are placed in your path.
Robby
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