We have all heard how, in the last several years, times have gotten worse; how the world seems to be in a moral tailspin and there is little, if anything, we can do about it. We read the news and are not alarmed anymore by hate and violence. Our television is filled with sex and murder. “American Family” is nothing more than a television show and Hollywood sets our moral compass. Our nation is crumbling before us and we don’t know what to do.
Most of us live our days in “tunnel vision” mode as we focus on decisions of the past or current problems of today. Movies entertain us, vacations help us relax, church and prescription drugs make us feel better, and work gives us purpose, but still there is this hollow, aching, emptiness in our heart.
So, focused on ourselves and our issues, we do little to positively impact the world around us. We fail to see God’s true purpose in life: Reaching out to those around us and providing them with direction and the right answers to the issues they face?
At a softball game last week, I ran into a lobbyist I work with at the Arizona legislature, a young man in his mid-twenties. He began to tell me that he has recently been labeled “bi-polar,” his dad is “messed up” and isn’t around, and how he is living with his friend and does not have a car. On the outside, this man seemed to have it all together. He’s young, handsome, single, and has a great job lobbying at the Capitol. On the inside he is turbulent, hurting and reaching out to anyone who cares!
I also met another man recently in the gym. He did two tours in Iraq and is a two-time Purple Heart recipient. He began to tell me how his father committed suicide in prison after many stints with drugs, how his mom “smokes a lot” and doesn’t really care, and how some of his high school friends are panhandling in the streets of Phoenix. He is divorced and re-married with a beautiful wife and two beautiful children.
Both of these individuals are just two of the many people God has recently brought into my life. The other day, a thought came to me that “God is up to something.” After pondering for a few minutes, I sent a text for a meeting with my pastor to get his blessing to start a church out of our home. I will be inviting these men and others.
Isaiah 58 says:
“Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shall cry, and he shall say ‘Here I am’. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity.
And if thou draw out they soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness (gloom) be as the noon day.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; thou shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.”
As I was writing this article, my phone rang. It was a friend who works at the Arizona Attorney General’s office. He wanted my opinion on some legislative ideas and our conversation quickly went to the things God is doing in his life and family. I invited him to our “house church,” which we will be starting on June 13. He confirmed that he and his wife will be regular attendees.
Look around and see who God is bringing to your world. Reach out and your “light will rise in obscurity” and you will “raise up the foundations of many generations.”
