How do you "broker" for Jesus...?That question hit me like a ton of bricks.
I went on a church retreat in midtown/downtown Memphis to learn about God's heart for the urban poor. What I didn't realize is how much I would learn about myself along the way. Here was my weekend...
I dream of the day when God will finally reveal to me my one true passion. The day when He will focus in on that one thing, lay it on my heart, and show me and use me to make a difference. I can only hope that God will open my eyes to what I now can not see.
He is everywhere, in everything and everyone. I should expect nothing less of myself than to help others in any way possible. For me, anything less is letting God down. The beauty within each of us is God which is why each of us deserves nothing less than the best from each other.
I do not want to waste my life on frivolous work, concentrating on money and things. There is so much work to be done. There are so many things God is calling me to do. How can I ignore His call?
Show me my next move God...
Show me how to glorify you through it...
Show me my one true passion...
Show me YOU in others...
Contrary to our societal views, Jesus has no face, no image, no one look. He is every face and every person. I want to see Jesus in everyone and make a choice to help everyone. I can not have a preconceived notion or automatic filter when determining who to help. Help everyone. Love everyone. Jesus is everyone.
Think about others with respect to God's love for them.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:8-10
I recognize the pull on my heart, the call of Jesus. I just do not know what to do with it. He will show me the path He has laid out for me. He will let it be known what He wants me to do. And, until then, I will prayerfully wait. It will all be worth it.
Lord, show me my "one true and holy passion and I will follow hard after you".
God's desire for us is to do more than simply walk through our lives going through the motions. He wants us to do exactly what He commanded. It is plainly written: "feed the hungry, clothe the poor, give shelter, help others for they are our people".
Sometimes we have to love those who does not love us. People who lie to us, steal from us, cheat us, even those people we must show God's love...
While meeting and speaking with a group of homeless men from the downtown Memphis area, I was brought to tears... on multiple occasions. Not only were their stories completely tragic, borderline Lifetime Movie Network potential, but what I realized was what most of them desired was for someone to be there. They needed someone to call family. After hearing this group of grown men talk about their situations and watching as they were brought to tears by the disheartening turn each of their lives took somewhere along the way, I wanted to reach out and grab and hold each of them (which we did at the end before we all parted ways). I wanted to say something that would allow them believe in themselves again. It is amazing how words fail when you need them most.
They have nothing and no one. The one thing they all wanted was someone to keep coming back to them, in a word... companionship. They desire family, as we all do.
The man who works with Memphis Union Mission and has committed to helping these men I have been writing about said something that resonated deep within me. He said, "When others don't, be the one who does." Simple and right down to the point. This is the way I want to live my life. I want to put myself in the middle of it all. I want to be right smack in the middle of the turmoil, so that it is impossible to ignore. If I am surrounded by pain, suffering, hardships, homelessness, hunger, how can I not deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Jesus... right down the path He has so beautifully laid before me.
This is what I was put on this earth to do. To help people. I know that. Now, I just have to wait patiently until he shows me when, where, and who. Show me...
The group I was with on the trip, of whom I knew no one when we started, is an amazing group of people. There were a few quotes from the weekend that I felt were worth remembering...
"These people aren't my project, they are my family." -Mary Elizabeth Blythe
"Give what is needed not what is convenient." -Rob Thomas
"I need them more than they need me." -Byron
I think that those statements speak for themselves.
One of the most inspiring things about this weekend was the two-way street on which I was constantly walking. As a group, we set out to learn about and inspire those less fortunate within our city. The great thing that happened along the way is we were so completely and utterly affected by the people we encountered that WE were all changed. I was continually inspired and moved by the individuals I met. All the "needy"... needy in the physical sense, but definitely not spiritual... men I met left me with a overflowing heart.
It was never about the image or about where/what to eat, etc. No one cared about anything but one true and holy passion- loving the Lord no matter what your life was like. When it comes to the one thing that matters, which is having a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, they were completely full. They inspired me more in one interaction than I could ever hope to inspire them. My life is amazing and yet I still find it difficult to feel complete and thankful for what God has given to me. These men do it repeatedly. They have NOTHING and still they thank God for their situation. If this is what it means to be "needy", then Lord, by your grace make me needy.
Moment after moment we encountered men who had been stripped of everything they had, some more than once. They were beaten down, spit and stepped on, physically, mentally, and verbally abused, and yet, the first thing out of their mouths was "I am thankful I have God" or "I love Jesus Christ" or "He helped me through". It was amazing the see someone with so much faith and love when he should be nothing more than bitter and angry.
I am forever grateful to these men because I have been forever changed by them.
After the Bridging the Gap weekend with Christ United Methodist Church, I know without a doubt that serving is where my heart truly lies. I will not brush aside my longing to help. It is what I truly want to do. I pray that God will show me what to do, where to go, and who to help. My only problem is that I want to do too much, so I pray He will show me where He needs me. With God's help and guidance I will find my path toward this great adventure. I will go where He sends me. I make that promise to myself.
I want to help change the world by changing one person's world. I want to see it in their faces. I want to see and feel the impact of the change I have helped bring into their life. I want to let them see the Jesus that the cruelness of the world has stripped them of. To me, the most amazing thing in the world is the bring a smile to someone's face and know that I gave them the kind of hope that would otherwise not have been possible. I want to give them their chance at a God-centered life. I want to give them hope.
Count the cost. Count my cost. Pick up my cross and follow Him, but I must do it with all I have or not do it at all. Love God and love my neighbor; it all falls back on that. Bring beauty and light to others with my actions.
I am forever changed... in Him.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me... "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
-Matthew 25:34-36,40
