I was hoofin’ it at lunch the other day. It was one of those absolutely beautiful days. You know the ones, when every person you pass is stepping light and smiling bright. The ones that make people shout greetings across the street over the urch of the brakes. A day when joy is palpable.
As I move along, I see two ladies sitting on the stairs of a building along the sidewalk. I yell a hello, how are you, wish them well and keep going.
The next day was exactly like the last joy day, only maybe more so. Once again I see my ladies just a sitting, enjoying the sunshine. I yell a hello and something made me stop. I introduced myself and lo and behold one of them I knew from several years back. She introduced me to her friend, T, and we reacquainted. It was great. As we talked, I learned that She had had a rough couple of years. Within the past two years She had lost two sons and a boyfriend to drugs. My heart turned black for her. Of course there were the formalities, I’m so sorry, can I help you, how are you doing? She said it had been hard but that She was hanging on to the Lord. My black heart was turning toward the light. Am I the only one that feels completely humbled and thankful when those whose lives are much harder than mine comfort me and point me to the Light?
A couple of days later, I ran across She and T in the same spot with the same smiles. You know me, I can’t pass up a chance to chat, so I did. We talked about the world and the craziness going on. We talked about the Lord and how He is the only one who can fix it. We shared the Lord, we shared the Bible, and back to work I went. I’ve been rehashing those conversations with She and T. They too were looking for solutions to a world gone awry. Pain is universal. We live in a world filled with pain, suffering, hate, violence, selfishness, death, meism, corrupt leaderless leaders, godlessness. Unfortunately, we all play some part in that, whether actively or passively, by our actions or by our inaction. Ouch, sorry! Here’s the thing – we as believers also know the solution to it all, don’t we?
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Titus 2:11
It just doesn’t get any clearer than that, does it? God gives us something we don’t deserve and could not possibly ever earn. But for His grace, we could not be saved. If we are looking to anything or anyone other than Jesus to save us and the crazy world we live in, we are on a dead end road, literally. Sometimes it is perfectly clear and other times it is as clear as mud. Right? Me, She and T were able to easily identify the problems of the world. I bet you could too. But sometimes we(me) humans spend more time talking about the problems than enacting the solutions, don’t we? Why? Because we’re hand-wringers. It’s easier for us to worry on or complain about something than to do something about something. That’s wrong.
As Christians, what are we supposed to do? Changing the world seems like an insurmountable challenge, doesn’t it? But it also seems an odd question when we look at who we serve, the God of the insurmountable, the God of the Good News – remember the grave? He has given us incredible resources to accomplish His purposes. He has given us every tool we need, but better yet, He has given us the power to use every tool He has given us. Here’s the thing – we must use the tools. Our sole purpose in life is to change the world one lost soul at a time. If we’re living for another purpose, we’re wrong. But, what does changing the world look like?
Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:35-38
That’s what changing the world looks like. Going, telling, teaching the Good News – changing lives, adding workers to the fields.
SHE AND T
