With a flick of a switch, the morning's news assaults my cluttered kitchen, my twenty year old boom box still adequately pumping out it's woeful tales. Car bombs. A murder just a few blocks from here. A young man, just a teenager, killed suddenly in a car accident. The countries of the world in disarray.
The quiet place deep within reminds me that these stories are not the whole story. There is good to be found. Redemption . Reconciliation. Restoration.
Last night I had a dream:
The world around me was vague, hazy, full of faceless people doing unidentifiable things. I was wandering amongst them feeling hopelessly detached. Lost. A song reverberated as I wandered, "Just love them like Jesus. Carry them to Him. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. You don't need all the answers to all of life's questions. Just love them like Jesus and stay by their side." (Casting Crowns) The me in the dream began weeping uncontrollably, changing the words into a query, "How can I love them like Jesus? How can I carry them to Him?"
And from that deep and quiet place came the beginnings of an answer, "Just go to where they are."
As the top news slices through the morning air, a reminder comes that we have a part to play in bringing the Story of Hope to a floundering planet. We need to go to where the hurting are.
A recently read study professed that as the world "shrinks" and we blunder our way through the information age, our feeling of powerlessness is growing. We see a great deal of violence, hear of trauma's from places next door and around the world. Our nature is to respond, to help. But the needs are too great, the problems too vast, and we as humans are not coping well with our inability to fix the brokenness.
But the quiet place reminds us that the loss and destruction are not the whole story. There is good to be found. Redemption. Reconciliation. Restoration.
And that good, that healing, will be visited here through you and I. The Creator of All, the Savior, the Spirit of God is active. Moving. Working. Healing. He requires our hands, our voices, our emotions to present His story to the world.
Out from under the comfort of our addictions and methods of coping. Alongside our rituals of worship. Hand in hand in hand in hand with our fellow God-lovers. Servants of the majestic One. We can go to the place of suffering and offer redemption and restoration. We must offer Christ.
The quiet place deep within reminds me that these stories are not the whole story. There is good to be found. Redemption . Reconciliation. Restoration.
Last night I had a dream:
The world around me was vague, hazy, full of faceless people doing unidentifiable things. I was wandering amongst them feeling hopelessly detached. Lost. A song reverberated as I wandered, "Just love them like Jesus. Carry them to Him. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. You don't need all the answers to all of life's questions. Just love them like Jesus and stay by their side." (Casting Crowns) The me in the dream began weeping uncontrollably, changing the words into a query, "How can I love them like Jesus? How can I carry them to Him?"
And from that deep and quiet place came the beginnings of an answer, "Just go to where they are."
As the top news slices through the morning air, a reminder comes that we have a part to play in bringing the Story of Hope to a floundering planet. We need to go to where the hurting are.
A recently read study professed that as the world "shrinks" and we blunder our way through the information age, our feeling of powerlessness is growing. We see a great deal of violence, hear of trauma's from places next door and around the world. Our nature is to respond, to help. But the needs are too great, the problems too vast, and we as humans are not coping well with our inability to fix the brokenness.
But the quiet place reminds us that the loss and destruction are not the whole story. There is good to be found. Redemption. Reconciliation. Restoration.
And that good, that healing, will be visited here through you and I. The Creator of All, the Savior, the Spirit of God is active. Moving. Working. Healing. He requires our hands, our voices, our emotions to present His story to the world.
Out from under the comfort of our addictions and methods of coping. Alongside our rituals of worship. Hand in hand in hand in hand with our fellow God-lovers. Servants of the majestic One. We can go to the place of suffering and offer redemption and restoration. We must offer Christ.
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