I felt the presence of the Lord in every step I took, and the presence of the enemy making each one of those steps feel like I had cement weights strapped to my feet, and it was all leading to my heart being broken in a hundred different pieces. A seemingly harmless remark provoked some to get on their soap box in agreement, in me it provoked anger, sadness and a broken heart. I knew I should have said something, but what? What could I have said in that moment that wouldn’t have started a war of words where there would be no winner just more division, I wrestled with my thoughts, and went to bed that night with my heart broken and praying for guidance, praying for the right words to speak that weren’t judgmental or threatening, just words that would provoke a thought. I finished reading John 3:16 that night, not John 3:16 the scripture but John 3:16 the novel.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This scripture doesn’t say that God so loved America or Europe or Asia or any other place that he gave his one and only son, it says that he so loved the WORLD he gave his one and only son. Matthew 5:16 tells us to let our light shine before men and sometimes God calls his children to let their light shine in places that others don’t agree with, or don’t feel the same passion for, opinions and hurtful words are thrown out, division among men occurs and hearts break.
My goal isn’t make someone see things the way I see them or serve where it is I have been called to serve, it is to provoke a thought, a thought that perhaps we are all working towards the same common goal, to make this fractured world we live in a better place, not just for ourselves but for future generations, a thought that perhaps we were all put on this earth to serve in a different capacity to reach the one common goal we all have, you see if God put us all in the same boat it would surely sink from the weight of it all.
So to all the people who are following the call on their lives to serve in places that I don’t necessarily feel the same passion for, I say thank you, for going to where the Lord has led you, to help that fractured part of the world that he loved so much he gave his one and only son for, to the those who challenged others because they do not feel the same passion for the place in which it is you have been called, I say thank you for going to where the Lord has led you to help that fractured part of the world that he loved so much he gave his one and only son for.
In the end we all want the same thing, and name calling and snarky remarks towards those who don’t see things the way we do isn’t going to get us any closer to that goal, but we could start by respecting where each of us is called to serve and say thank you for going to where the Lord has led you to help that corner of the world that he loved so much he gave his one and only son for.
There is a song floating around by Natalie Grant, Human, I hope you love it.
I love that...if He put us all in the same boat it would sink. So true. You are absolutely right, too, we are all called to different things, all parts of the body, all called to carry the message of redemption and glorify God as He directs us. Go where He is leading you. Leave the fallout up to Him.
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