“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth - Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:5-7
Where is your focus within the body of Christ? Are you accepting other Christians who worship and express their faith in different ways? Are you working on reaching the lost souls that God has put you here to claim in His name?
Well, at the end of a very long week and very long weekend, I crawled into my bed ready to get in as much sleep as I could. Then I remembered a book that Dr. Randy Peck just gave to me as a gift called “The Elk River Story.” I picked it up and started reading. As I read, I noticed every now and then my mind would wander or my eyes would drift shut. I was physically tired and mentally drained, but I did not want to put down the book. I knew that this was a book that I would read many times so if I did not soak it all in on the first go around, it did not bother me too much. However, I felt I needed to read so I believed if God had a message for me, he was going to help wake me up enough to catch it while I read. And guess what, our Almighty God did just that!
Although there are many messages in that book, what stuck out to me was that in the Elk River community Pastor’s from many different congregations gathered together to pray for their whole community. They realized that they were not just Pastor’s of their church, but of the whole city. These were Pastor’s from churches of different backgrounds, traditions, and practices. But they came together to use Jesus Christ to transform their community, they saw that there is a bigger picture - that God desired them to be unified for His glory, that though they may worship and practice their faith in different ways, that should not be a dividing factor in the body of Christ.
This is something I have often thought about over the past few years. Looking around in a community and seeing the division among Christians over so many little things, has always bothered me. I have always believed that God speaks to every person in their own way, gives them their own purpose in life and that each person will worship and serve in the way that God planned for them to.
In the Elk River community, these churches and pastor’s realized there is so much more - God desires for us all to work together, to bring Glory to his name. Yes, we may do it in different ways, but working towards the bigger picture, saving souls in the name of Jesus and uniting families, communities, nations and the world together should be a priority.
I then began reading in Isaiah 43 and came across the verse highlighted above, and I thought about how there is so much division within churches, and so much more out in the world. But God desires that from every corner they be brought together, and He says that He will do that. As believers He is going to use us to do that: in different ways, through different ministries, but ultimately our goal is to bring everyone together in the name of Christ, to have all the people know and glorify Him.
God is laying on my heart a certain ministry, a plan to help bring families together and bring “Moments” into the lives of children that will have a positive, lasting effect that they can reflect on and hold onto when their worlds are crashing around them. I have seen very little of all the horrible situations so many children face, but what I have seen has broken my heart. So many kids barely stand a chance from the time they are born into this world.
My goal is to help unite these children, these future generations, so that they may know God, and hold onto Him through all the nasty things that life hands them. I want them to know Christ’s love, peace, joy and laughter. I want God to use me to bring that to them so that they can look through the bad moments and hold onto the good ones.
Reading the Elk River Story not only inspired me by showing me once again another example of God’s power, but it has inspired me to begin, even more so, serving God. So that (as in Isaiah 43:7) ”everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” can be brought together to love God, love eachother, have peace and bring glory to God.
Prayer: Lord, I praise you for all of the wonderful things in my life. I thank you for my family, for my home, for my church, and all the people you have placed in my life who have helped guide my steps so that I could grow in my faith in You. I am so lucky to of been placed in this spot. There are so many out there who are not so lucky, who are battered, lost, unloved, and hurting - and they aren’t even 5 years old yet. I pray that you can use me to be a light into those little lives, to bring you love, joy and peace into their lives so that they have something to hold onto when things are rough. I pray that you can use me to help families that are struggling, that are broken and that need You. Please Lord, as in the book of John 3:30, “you must become more and I must become less.” Use me to help bring people together for your glory. Your Will be done in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.