Face To FaithSample

I once met a girl named Zoe. It was at a church youth retreat up in British Columbia, and she was about as rough as they come.

Every time I spoke, she walked out on me. Her t-shirts cussed at me. She had so many
piercings that it looked like she fell in my tackle box. Her skin was covered in tattoos. She gave off such an unwelcoming feeling that even I, the camp speaker, avoided her until the last day. In fact, I might have avoided her for the whole week except for one thing—I knew a guy who had a daughter named Zoe ripped away from him in a nasty divorce. His ex ran off and took his daughter to Australia and he hadn’t seen her since. I had to find out, no matter how much of a long shot it might be, if she was his Zoe.

It was the last mealtime of camp and I got her to sit at my table. I asked her, “Hey, small chance, I know, but is your dad a friend of mine from San Diego named Rob?” She started to cry. Turns out she was that Zoe, but she didn’t stick around long, running off on me again.

The next day was our seven-hour boat ride back to Vancouver, and I sat next to her the whole time, throwing every Bible verse I had ever memorized at her. She finally said, “You’re a little thick! I want nothing to do with you, or my dad, or your God! Leave me alone!”

I felt like a failure, I mean, a complete failure. But the story ends well. I called my buddy Rob and told him about his daughter. He somehow already knew she was there and had bought a ticket to go up there before she headed back to Australia. He found her completely cleaned up, not at all as I had last seen her, and they called me. “After the boat docked, I just stayed there all night,” she told me, “and I thought about everything you said at camp. When the sun came up that morning, it melted my heart and I invited God into my life. Jesus Christ has taken over my life and radically changed me from the inside out!”

Listen, maybe you feel like a Zoe, needing to let Jesus Christ take over your life, or maybe you know a Zoe. Maybe your marriage feels lost. Whatever it is, however far beyond reach you feel your “Zoe” is, remember today that it is not so lost or damaged that God isn’t able to redeem and save it.

His arm is not too short to save! Ask God to transform your life and the life of the “Zoe” you know.

Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Thank You that no one is beyond Your reach! I pray for my “Zoe” today, that You would send someone to them, even if it’s me, to reach them and bring them home to Your love!
Amen