And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”
29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”
30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
I hung out at the Lutheran Campus Center throughout my college days. It was a place where I made friends, cooked cheap frozen meals for lunches, played a lot of card games, and managed to squeeze in a moment or two of study. The campus pastor there was faithful in every way. He was patient with us, yet spoke a clear word of correction when the language got too foul. He also invited me to take the Adult Information Class, to become a Lutheran.
He asked me five times before I finally said, “Yes.” I had a few qualifiers to my yes, but I did agree. And about a third of the way through the classes, I was ready to join. I was impacted by the way he always went back to Scripture when I had a question. I was also deeply impacted by the way the focus always came back to faith and grace in Christ. Jesus was the center, and I was ever glad to be focused toward the center; toward Christ.
Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains” (v. 29). Paul had however long or short a time God allowed to witness to Felix and Agrippa, Bernice, and the rest of their entourage. And whether the iron struck while it was hot, or the longer exposure to the light of the gospel lit the flame of faith: Paul knew that faith was a work of God.
We may be able to speak a word of grace to a person that turns him toward Jesus in that very moment. Or a friend may need to hear the invitation to faith over and over again before she is brought to faith. The key is getting to the point that we are actually speaking that word of truth and grace in Jesus, or forever waiting for the right moment. I think the latter is called procrastination.
When we have the opportunity to share the message of Jesus we can be sure the Holy Spirit is attending our throughs and words. And if the message seems to glance off the hearts of those to whom we speak, we can be patient and persistent in sharing the gospel.
This not only applies to our witness to non-believers, it applies also to the conversations and encouragements we have with other believers urging them toward a more faithful walk. They may need to hear more than once that they can fill a critical gap in a ministry, or make a different life choice. In any case repentance and faith is the goal and God is the author of that in our lives.
Persistence and patience is a great combination the first or fifth time we share the gospel.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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