I don’t normally consider myself the fan-girl type, but I do have a vivid memory of being maybe thirteen or fourteen years old and completely star-struck. I was at the family camp we attended every summer listening to the speaker for the week, and I was in awe. I’m not sure what it was about the man, exactly. He wasn’t a flashy, charismatic, rock-star kind of performer up on the stage. Pretty much the opposite, in fact. He was quiet, humble, and spoke with an accent that intrigued me. He also spoke truth from the Bible with conviction and a clear and evident love for God’s Word and for the people he was addressing. I couldn’t get enough of it and eagerly attended service every morning and evening that week.
On Friday evening, after this man’s final talk, I clearly remember the two of us standing outside the chapel in the large area carved out in the middle of a forest of pine trees. Even now, never mind how many years later, I can close my eyes, smell that glorious scent, feel the needles slippery beneath my feet, and visualize the speaker standing in front of me, appearing to have all the time in the world for a wide-eyed, teenage girl.
The actual chapel Ravi Zacharias and I stood in front of, talking.
I asked him to autograph my Bible. If the request struck him as odd or a bit silly, he didn’t show it, only took the book from me and solemnly signed it with the pen he’d pulled from his suit coat pocket, and handed it back to me with a smile. I treasured that Bible and that autograph for many years.
The man was Ravi Zacharias. At the time, he was not nearly as well-known as he would become later in life. Still, even then there was something that drew people to him. It certainly drew me, even as a teen. I likely couldn’t have put into words at the time what it was about him that was so compelling, but as I followed his ministry and listened to him speak over the years, it became very clear. Like no one else I have personally listened to or known, Ravi Zacharias was able to achieve an admirable balance of truth and love—in his teaching, in his response to people who asked him questions, in his interactions with every person he encountered, including that young girl that evening among the pine trees. To this day, when I am asked a difficult question about Christianity that I’m not entirely sure how to respond to, I will either direct the person to a Ravi Zacharias video on the subject (I have yet to find one he didn’t address) or watch it myself so I know how to respond with the truth and authority of the Bible wrapped in the grace and love that Ravi Zacharias demonstrated.
Of course he wasn’t perfect, and only God can hold truth and grace in perfect balance. During his time on earth, Jesus certainly did. No matter what questions were directed at him, however religious leaders or anyone else tried to trip him up, regardless of the amount of vitriol hurled at him, he responded with grace, love, compassion, and truth (occasionally accompanied by righteous anger).
Jesus never compromised the truth of the gospel, but presented it in a way that had thousands of people pressing closer to hear what he had to say. @sarajdavison Click To Tweet
While I know there was great rejoicing this week when Ravi Zacharias was ushered into heaven, for me the world felt a little darker. Heaven’s gain is most certainly earth’s great loss.
My prayer for myself and for all believers is that we will strive, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to balance grace and truth in our lives and in our words. And as we do, may everyone we encounter be drawn, not to us, but to Jesus Christ who so perfectly modelled that balance through his interactions with every person he met. Sara Davison is the author of three romantic suspense series, The Seven Trilogy, The Night Guardians, and The Rose Tattoo Trilogy. She has been a finalist for ten national writing awards, including Best New Canadian Christian Author, a Carol, a Selah, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a Word and Cascade Award winner. She curently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children, all of whom she (literally) looks up to.
The tip the stranger left sent Nicole a painfully clear message: the past is no longer in the past.
Nicole is fighting to bury the memories. Someone else is fighting to keep them exposed.
Detective Daniel Grey is back in town, and diner owner Nicole Hunter isn’t sure how she feels about that. It’s been almost seven years, and now she doesn’t just have herself to think about but her six-year-old son as well. If she does find the courage to take a chance on love, her heart could be smashed into pieces. Again.
And it’s not only her heart that’s in danger. Someone is working hard to disrupt her present with reminders of the past she has worked hard to forget, especially her darkest memory – of the night her husband was gunned down in the street in front of her. As much as she might want to push Daniel away, Nicole needs him closer now than ever before.
But the one she trusts to keep her and her son safe has a secret that may prove to be the biggest threat of all.
Sam Hall
Sara Davison