God of This City

Precious Friends,
I realize that so many of us are weary for so many different reasons. . .we each have our own crosses to bear (Luke 9:23). . .we each carry thorns in our flesh that we beg the Lord to remove (II Cor. 12:7-8). . .but the "tie that binds" us all together is the same AWESOME, AMAZING, God who, because of WHO HE IS (Ex. 3:14), loves us MIGHTILY (Deut. 7:9; John 3:16), WEEPS for us PASSIONATELY, and LONGS for us to RETURN to HIM (Jer. 24:7) with a YEARNING that, this side of Heaven, we will NEVER fully grasp!
There are days for all of us that seem to be NEVER ENDING!!! You know what I'm talking about! Days when the proverbial Murphy's Law seems to be hitching a ride in your back pocket and, no matter which way you turn, "Murphy" is still there to remind you of your inadequacies, your fears, your failures. Can I be perfectly honest with you??? I've been stalked by Murphy a lot here lately, and I've even let him trick me into believing that he has won, and I'll never be able to escape him. Then I remember that I do not serve Murphy's Law. . .I SERVE THE KING OF KINGS. . .and all of the burdens that I carry around in my special, ready-in-a-jiffy, pity party pack for 1, are to be cast at the feet of my Savior who asks me to do so. . .why?!?. . .because He LOVES me (1 Peter 5:7)! I think we can all relate.
Times are tough, that's for certain, but I love the perspective that my spiritual dad shares towards this end. . .He says, "It is important to remember in times like these that there have always been 'times like these'." Isn't that the truth?!? Daily, I look around this world that I'm passing through (which, to be honest, usually consists of the Hattiesburg Wal-Mart, Target, CornerMarket, Bucko's Cleaners, and the Heritage Preschool Carpool Line) and I see dispair. . .I hear bitterness and anger. . .I sense brokenness. . .and I'm not just referring to myself! =)
Why is it that we have lost our joy?!? Why are we so quick to offer an opinion, but when we find ourselves standing in the path of obvious wrong (fill-in-the-blank here. . .a child being mistreated, a customer treating a cashier with blatant disregard) we turn away and remind ourselves of the old adage, "out of sight, out of mind." We have become a "not my problem" society. It is easier to turn off the television when the hungry child flashes on our TV screen than it is to acknowledge the suffering of another and consciously choose to make a difference. But isn't that who we are called to be?!? Aren't we supposed to be difference makers?!? Jesus was.
Several weeks ago, many of us had the privilege of fellowshipping with Dr. Calvin Miller. During our time with him, he said something that has haunted me in the weeks that have followed. He referred to a visit he had made to a children's hospital, during which time, he passed by a room where a child sat, alone, in an oxygen tent. Dr. Miller quickly began thanking the Lord that He had blessed the Miller family with strong, healthy children whose greatest health problem to date had been an occasional stomach virus. If my memory serves me correctly (though that, in and of itself, is debateable), Dr. Miller told the Lord something to the effect of, "Lord, thank you that that child is not my child," to which the Lord QUICKLY reminded him that, in fact, because Dr. Miller had seen/acknowledged that child in the oxygen tent, the little boy WAS his child. . .Miller now had the responsibility of claiming that child as his own. (Deut. 10:18-19; Matt. 25:34-45)
This story has haunted me in the sense that, for the past few weeks I have had to accept a new level of responsibility that I had not previously known to exist. I am my brother's keeper. . .but not in the Cain and Abel sense of the phrase, obviously! I have, for many weeks, tried to explain to the Lord that, in light of all that the Line family is living through at the moment, I don't really have time to be my brother's keeper, at least not the way that the Lord has commanded. To date, He has not given me a "homework pass," per se, so I think that means that my responsibility to others is non-optional. =) So many of you, my sweet friends, also feel the burden of balancing the life that we live daily with the responsibilities of our calling in Jesus. . .to TRULY "love our neighbors as ourselves" (Matt. 22:39); to be "fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19); to step out of our comfort zones, be water-walkers(Matt. 14:30) so to speak, and take risks all because we hear the Lord calling to us over the crash of life's waves and the chaos of life's storms! The other day, while pulling into the garage from a "Line Family Outing," Sam, from his perch in the backseat of Robert's truck, announced, "Home, Sweet, Home. . .FINALLY!" How many times, a day, do our hearts SCREAM the same sentiment, out of a longing for a place that we've never been but, with everything in us, long to be?!? I often tell the Lord that everything would be so much better/easier if He would just bring me, "Home, Sweet, Home." But the Lord is alway quick to remind me that, to paraphrase Beth Moore, "The Lord allowed me to wake up today, so He must not be finished with me yet."
All of this rambling does have a point. . .I promise.
Even though we all have days where we beg the Lord to bring us HOME, He needs us here, for there is work yet to be done. Fellow Servants, forget the ominous national and international headlines, there is MUCH work yet to be done IN THIS CITY!!! But who am I, that the Lord would use me to make a difference in the life of another. . .for HIS glory. . .you may, rightly, ask yourself (I certainly do)?!? You are a COVENANT CHILD of the King of GLORY, GOD ALMIGHTY, a CO-HEIR to the THRONE of GRACE (Rom. 8:17). . .if that doesn't fire you up to go out and change our community for Jesus, I don't know what will!
Billy Graham once said, "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened." Take a stand today, precious friends! Make a difference for Jesus in our city. . .the ripple effect, I believe, will be ASTRONOMICAL! And remember. . .we are not fighting alone. . .we are accompanied by each other, the efforts of those who have gone before us, and the strength of a GREAT and MIGHTY God, whose renown is worth far more than we will ever, in our flesh be able to give!
One last thing. . .if you've made it this far into reading this post, do me a favor. . .scroll down to the bottom of this page, turn off the music, then scroll back up and watch this video by Chris Tomlin. The song is called, "God of This City," and the video is AMAZING!
Love to you all, my fellow sojourners!
In His AWESOME Grip,
Tish