Zechariah 10:12 NLT
By my power I will make my people strong, and by my authority they will go wherever they wish. I,
the Lord, have spoken!”
You have encountered them as
I have. Maybe it was at church or some
event that you came face to face with one of their kind. They are strong and confident, kind and
compassionate, hopeful and patient. I am
talking about some who have chosen to serve God through serving others.
I am calling this post a
“point of personal privilege” because there are some people I want to draw
attention to, but before I get to the point I want to remind you that I am
human. Some people make me mad, tick me off
and even get my mind so wrapped up that I have to back off and ask God for
help. You have met some of those people
too.
This week God has sent me
several reminders, but in the midst of being reminded I have run in to and
spent time with some of the most negative and difficult people in the
world. They really seem to be pointing
me and others in any direction other than God.
They are somewhat of the “cold water committee” trying to stop what God
has done. I’ve got to look past them to
the others.
The Community Fellowship has
some of the greatest people in the world.
I am talking about people who are willing to serve. I love our church, and it thrills me to watch
these people and to serve with them too.
This week I got a letter from one of them who seemed to fall off the
deep end, and I am so glad that God has begun a good work in this one again.
Then my attention is turned
to the Winter / Warming Shelter that we have helped to start in our
community. Over the last few weeks many
new volunteers, more than 25, have stepped up to serve those who are homeless
and/or cold in our community. A few of
the people on this volunteer team are from The Community, but the majority of
these awesome people are from many other churches and organizations in our
community.
That fact has restored some
of my faith in our town and rekindled my desire to make a difference right here
like an old saying goes, “bloom where you are planted”. I believe God isn’t done with Martinsville
and Henry County. He is raising up
people who are touched by Him and who have compassion for people who are
hurting.
What God has reminded me of
is that we Christians are to be catalyst to help others step up to serve. As Tommy Barnett has said for years “find a
need and fill it” or “find a hurt and heal it” as you serve the people you come
in contract with. Mother Teresa said,
“if you cannot feed 100 people, feed 1”.
I’ve met some great people
through this process. In conversations
and in their serving I have been blessed big time. God is at work. God is raising up great servants. God is changing lives as His people allow His
compassion to flow through their veins and on to their hands and in their
voices.
We “get-to-serve”. That is a fact that Matthew Barnett’s new
book “Misfits Welcome” shares very well.
It is easy to get tired and we “have-to-serve”, but it is awesome when
God opens our eyes and our hearts because we realize that God has blessed us so
much that we “get-to-serve” hurting people around us.
Psalm 112:2 NLT
Their children will be successful
everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
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