Filed under: People in the community
I received a text late last night from someone who ended their text with the phrase – ‘God is Amazing!’ The person shared that God had got a hold of them over the last couple of days and would not let go. After surrendering to God, they shared with some other people what God had laid on their heart. As a result of this person’s faithfulness, two people came to profess their faith in Jesus Christ. I hear stories like this and I am blown away at the way God works. Why on earth would God use us? We constantly make mistakes, we fail Him all the time; yet, He works through us to reach into someone’s life and change them. God is Amazing.
I got another email from a parent where their child had taken our invitation cards to school and gave one to every child in their class and their teacher. This is a third grader. He cared so much for his classmates that he wanted them all to come to church. I, of course, offered to get him more cards if he needed them – I figured he might keep going to the entire third grade. Seriously, this is what God desires from all of us. God desires that we look at every person with the compassion and love that He has for them. Inviting someone to church is more than an effort to increase statistical categories – it is living out the reality that God cares for everyone and we should too.
We have watched over the last couple of days as our neighbors have had their homes, businesses and schools flooded and ruined. I have been glued to the news as I grew up in the area and have so many family and friends affected by the storm. So much devastation and despair. The reality for those of us outside the affected areas – the despair that these people feel is right here in our neighborhoods as well. Our friends and families have lost jobs, had their homes foreclosed on, have lost family to tragedies and illness. How do we offer any of them hope? First, we have to be like the 3rd grader and care. We have to be genuinely concerned for people. We have to be willing to come alongside of them and listen to their stories. Then, we have to be like the person who sent me the text. We have to be willing to surrender and let God use us.
In the midst of crisis and despair that life sometimes brings, God can use you and me to pour His Spirit into someone’s life and for them to feel the overwhelming love of the God that created the universe. God can use you and me to pour His Spirit into someone’s life and offer them comfort and peace that we cannot offer ourselves. God can use you and me to pour His Spirit into someone’s life and offer them hope when we can’t even see it or express it. God is amazing! Never forget it. God is Amazing! Live it. God is Amazing!
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