What would you give to be changed by Christ?
Remember the Bible story in John 4 when Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a countryside well?
After she meets Jesus, her life is changed. It’s a catalytic moment for her! John 4:39 shares the widespread impact of that moment: “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’”
When Jesus changes someone, it affects everything and everyone around them.
What does catalytic change look like today?
A woman in India named Misti is the perfect example.
She worked hard as a housemaid to help her husband support their family, cleaning others’ homes to make a living. But Misti never had an education as a child, and she was especially weak in math. This left her clueless when it came time to collect payment from her clients. Misti was often cheated out of money, but she had no way to prove it.
Misti knew she wasn’t good at handling money, so she eventually gave up trying. Her hopelessness led her to silently let others exploit her. When she miscalculated change, giving back more than she should, customers took from her and laughed behind her back.
Eventually, Misti was invited to participate in a local Adult Literacy Class. Once she enrolled, it quickly became obvious to the teacher, Sayantoni, that Misti struggled with math. So, Sayantoni taught Misti techniques for learning to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. While it was hard to grasp the concepts at first, Misti committed herself to learning. She was determined to master her weakness, and she did!
What a catalyst for her family’s financial stability!
It gets better. While Misti was learning how to do math, she was also learning about Jesus through the Bible-based class. God was growing her mind, and He was also opening her heart to His love. With Sayantoni’s guidance, Misti received Jesus as her Savior! Misti had her true catalytic moment, and it changed her life.
Her family must have been thrilled!
Well, not exactly. As Misti began spending time in prayer, her mother-in-law opposed her newfound faith. She discouraged Misti from praying and practicing Christianity and often left Misti feeling threatened.
But Misti continued to pray. Once she met Jesus, she wouldn’t walk away from Him.
Misti continues to follow Jesus today, but now she does so privately. Misti faced the loss of relationships because she chose to follow Jesus, but God’s love was enough for her.
What areas of your life need to be changed by the love of Christ? What are you willing to risk in order to fully surrender to Him?
PRAY
- Pray for Misti’s whole family to know Jesus.
- Ask God to protect Christians in India from persecution.
TAKE ACTION
- Join our 4-day devotional on persecution in India, releasing on November 3. Use it to prepare for the upcoming International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church! Click here to sign up.
