Planting and Watering in God's Sovereignty

On a Friday evening Amanda called the HopeLine concerned about her best friend. Amanda’s friend, Tommy, was gay and wanted to tell his parents. She told our HopeCoach about Tommy’s abusive home life and how he was terrified of the consequences that would come if he told them about his homosexuality. Tommy was so scared that he had actually asked Amanda to tell his parents for him, and she was struggling with what to tell him. Our HopeCoach, of course, gave her the practical advice not to get involved in this potentially dangerous situation. He went on to encourage her on how she could still be a good friend without doing Tommy this favor. Like all HopeLine calls it ended with the HopeCoach praying for the situation and asking God to do the things that only He can do. The HopeCoach hung up the phone and worked through the follow up we do for every call thinking about Amanda and Tommy. When he made himself available to take another call he saw one pop up on his screen from the same city Amanda was from. This caller hung up three times before having the courage to actually talk to someone. Amazingly, each time the call would come to this same HopeCoach. The fourth time was a charm and once again it came to him. The first words out of the caller’s mouth…“Hi my name is Tommy and I’m gay”. The HopeCoach was floored! After listening for a minute he felt it was appropriate to reveal his previous conversation with the caller’s best friend. Tommy said that he had not talked to her since early that morning, and had no idea that Amanda was going to call in. The HopeCoach was able to move straight to the heart of the issue and speak the truth in love concerning Tommy’s situation. Now, many calls that come into the HopeLine end with a defined resolution, but many calls do not. Though some great seeds were planted, Tommy did not repent on this call. At a glance this could seem very disappointing, but when we consider God’s incredible sovereignty in this divine appointment how could we be disappointed? This display should move us to a deeper trust in our amazing God to finish the work that He has started. We have a saying that we try to always keep in mind at the HopeLine: “We are responsible to each caller, but God is responsible for each caller.” We do all we can to listen and proclaim truth and offer help, but ultimately any really great or eternal work that is done is done by God. And He is still working when we hang up the phone. We praise God for the times He uses us to harvest, but we also praise Him for the opportunity to plant and water trusting in His perfect plan where His fierce love and power keeps working in every caller’s life!