God changes hearts, not us.  Attempting to play God's role leads to frustration.  We  can avoid frustration through child-like faith in Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for IT is the power ..."  We show a lack of faith in this verse when, after the gospel is rejected, we say to ourselves, "The gospel didn't work, so now I have to add the good stuff -- If only I were more clever, if only I had a backlog of good one-liners that will silence their criticism, or if only I could become an expert that can answer all their objections."  In fact, the gospel is the "good stuff." 

We can walk away from someone who has rejected the gospel with the confidence that once the gospel is in their brain, they will not be able to shake it out.   The timing on when God will make the gospel real to them is outside our control.  When we see that God has the larger role, then our small role begins to seem less daunting.

Return to How To overview