A Faithful God in Forgotten Moments
By Deacon Tuttle
Have you ever had an encounter with someone thinking, “I don’t remember who you are?” While we may be forgetful of others as we go through life, God remains active and watchful. As Christians, God has given us the blessing and duty to spread the Gospel to those around us. The Lord has entrusted us to do this with the power of the Holy Spirit, and we can be certain that Jesus is with us to the end of the age. However, this does not mean that we will see immediate results when the Gospel is spread. Oftentimes, we may not be present to see what God is doing in someone’s heart. To that point, the more people we meet, the more prone we can be to forgetting about interactions that were powerful for someone else. God brought about a glorious salvation with a situation exactly like this, which began casually at the Food Zoo cafeteria at the University of Montana in the fall of 2022.
Austin, a campus multiplier, met Oskar after recognizing a band t-shirt he was wearing, connecting them instantly through a shared interest. They sat down after this and ate their lunches together. Austin cannot recall the exact details of the conversation, but the subject quickly became spiritual. “That’s the cool thing here, God at work; we’re faithful to go out and sow seeds, share the Gospel.” Oskar and Austin discussed the Gospel that afternoon, to which he was receptive and even excited, but there were no follow-ups after that day.
Fast-forward, 3-4 months later, in January of 2023, Oskar called Austin out of the blue. Austin said, “He’s tripping on mushrooms, and he’s like, ‘Jesus is calling me to repent and to change my life. I have no idea who to talk to.’” Austin said that the conversation from that prior interaction had stirred something in Oskar. Those seeds of the Gospel reached out to Oskar during the drug-fueled panic, and he was led to reach out for help and seek faith in Christ. At that time, Oskar was not in town in Missoula. Oskar had no community around him in his walk with God for over a year. After a realization that he needed fellow believers to grow alongside, he was able to move closer to those who wanted to live life with him. Austin says that there was a turning point in which Oskar was able to speak with his Dad about following the Lord, and that sparked Oskar’s faith from a belief into action. Through confessing sin and processing with his father, he knew that he had to shirk those things that were weighing down his relationship with the Lord. Now, in the Spring of 2025, Oskar has been able to follow under leadership, being disciplined, growing in knowledge of the Bible, and learning what it means to be a Christian leader. God pruned Oskar over these last few years. Austin said, “It’s a crazy story of ‘In the Harvest Time’, a 3-4 year seed that was planted being matured. It’s really cool to see that.” Recently, this year, Oskar was baptized and able to celebrate his new life in Christ.
“Austin said that the conversation from that prior interaction had stirred something in Oskar. Those seeds of the Gospel reached out to Oskar during the drug-fueled panic, and he was led to reach out for help and seek faith in Christ.”
Pictured far left: Oskar at a summer discipleship program post baptism
Even when we fail in our pursuit of people, God never fails, God never forgets. Austin found himself surprised by the way he learned this. In this, he was reminded that God is the author of people’s stories and we are not. “God’s faithfulness and sovereignty in this situation show that He cares more, like, I forgot about this guy,” Austin said. When we share the Gospel, Austin clings to the truth that we are simply God’s mouthpieces to proclaim His glory. There is a simplicity in this approach to evangelism that we should remember and be encouraged by. “When we’re out there sharing the Gospel, it’s not our craftiness, or our words, or our looks or whatever,” Austin said. As God is faithful to us, Austin says we should be faithful to share the goodness of God with everyone through the Gospel. He wants people to know that it’s not a scary thing. Austin said, “You don’t need to know everything. God is going to just use your faithfulness to glorify Himself.”
Even though we as people can be forgetful of others, we can have confidence that God is thoughtful and intentional. God is always at work to bring about His perfect plans. Austin’s faithfulness to answer the call to share the Gospel with Oskar was brief to Austin, but so incredibly impactful for Oskar. When we look at the opportunities that God has given us in the past to share the hope of Jesus with other people, don’t be discouraged or afraid of what happened in those encounters. The reality is that we as human beings are not capable of powerful transformation; only God has that ability. Our duty is to be the hands and feet of our Lord, presenting Him to others; while we try to be faithful, we can have assurance that our God is always exactly that.
