Look up!

Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find? –Proverbs 20:6 (NIV)

Life is hard. It’s even harder when we seek truth in the wrong places. Who is setting your perspective? Watching the news or tracking with social media can straight-up suck the joy out of living. Regardless of how you see yourself socially, economically, or politically, it’s easy to get the impression that everything is bad and everyone is out to get you. We’re all under attack and the world is hanging on by the tips of our collective fingernails.

I’m not here to tell you everything is rosy. A spiritual battle rages and there are a lot of bad things going on in the world. We need to be aware. To pretend otherwise is foolish and naïve. That said, there is more to the story.

The gospels record a time when John the Baptist, who was literally born to be the forerunner of the Messiah, sent disciples to inquire of Jesus whether He was, in fact, “the One who was to come”. The circumstances that precipitated the question? John was in jail and Jesus had done nothing to help His cousin out. Jesus didn’t answer directly. Instead, He invited John and his disciples to take a step back and see a bigger picture.

Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on:
The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.
Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!” –Matthew 11:4-6 (MSG)

John’s circumstances didn’t change. He was still in prison when his friends came back to give their report. John had played his role, and would continue to do so until his death. Perhaps not the role he would have chosen. Perhaps a role in which he felt under-utilized. But it was the role God had created him for.

I subscribe to a news feed called Open Doors that brings me stories of how Christians are persecuted around the world. The purpose of the feed is to provide details of specific situations where God’s people need prayer. While the stories are concerning, sometimes alarming, I am consistently impressed and encouraged by the faith and courage of these brothers and sisters. I am proud to call them my family in Christ and honored to lift them up before the Father. More to the story….

I recently visited with a pair of pastors who minister to some of the most marginalized communities in our region. Homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts – people written off by most of society. As I heard the stories, I was a bit overwhelmed. So much need…. And yet, as these pastors spoke, their faces glowed. When these precious image-bearers are treated with love and dignity, some begin to respond. Finding a safe community where they are valued just because Jesus died for them too, something inside them begins to change. That’s how a tattooed gang-banger who looks like a bouncer becomes an usher at the weekly worship assembly. A bigger picture….

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. – John 3:8 (NIV)

Don’t lose hope. Pray. Give God room to work. His methods, His timing, His plans. He is sovereign. While we wait on the LORD, let us ask for wisdom. Let us be faithful. Let us be obedient. The outcomes do not depend on us – they never did. But God will use each of our parts, big or small, to add depth and color to the picture He is painting, and bless each of us in the process. Heads up, eyes open, men.