I just walked by Rob Lowe on the beach. He was sitting along a public path and allowed a couple of fans to approach, but after a little while, he picked up his phone and held it to his ear. Clearly he was done interacting with strangers for the moment. I took the hint and kept walking.

Earlier today I was walking along that same beach and came across a sea turtle. (Two rare sightings in one day.) Current federal guidelines for a safe public viewing distance of sea turtles is 10 feet. As with Mr. Lowe, I knew to keep my distance.

With evangelizing, as with my beach encounters today, it’s important to “read the room.” Without God doing the work preparing a person’s heart, any message of Jesus I offer them will fall on deaf ears. My efforts will be wasted.

However, when God has been tilling the soil of a person’s heart, the seeds of my simple, clumsy message will fall deeply and take root quickly and easily.

In Acts, Philip has an encounter with an Ethiopian official before which God was clearly at work in the man’s heart. And Philip was listening to God closely and obeying each strange command. “Get up and go down the desert road.” Ok, now what? “Run along next to that chariot.” Ok, now what? “You’ll see…”

Indeed Philip did see, or rather hear. The official was reading one of Isaiah’s prophecies about Jesus out loud. And he seemed confused and curious about it.

“Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.” (Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭35‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

To be an effective evangelist, I shouldn’t just bully my way into people’s lives talking about things they don’t care to hear or understand. Instead, I must listen to God closely every moment of the day. And obey His weird, little commands. I may not understand why He wants me to take a walk on the beach right now, but if I just say OK and do it, maybe He will send me the perfect object lesson for the day.

Dear God, thank you for the blessing of enjoying your creation, including a sea turtle basking on the beach. And thank you also for reminding me that you are in charge of my evangelistic efforts. My efforts are in vain unless I am listening to your voice and obeying your commands.