What are we waiting for?
I sat in the back seat of whatever car I was in at the time, looking out the window, deep in thought.
Something was stirring in me.
I can't explain it. You probably wouldn't understand unless you, too have had a similar experience.
The thoughts were heavy ones. Ones of death, of heaven and hell, of lost souls all around me headed in the wrong direction.
I watched as cars passed us, seeing the faces inside, deeply bothered that I did not know the state of their souls.
"God, show me what You see when You see those people out there," I prayed silently.
This is no petty issue I am talking about. God's heart towards others is much bigger than we assume.
The past ten or so years since this prayer have been a slow opening of my eyes in answer to it.
He's wanted me to see, really see... He wants you to see too.
Since then, I thought I was called to the mission field "out there," but God seemed to call me in the opposite direction.
Here, near the bustling city of Tampa, still living near where I have lived my whole life, I find myself seeing all of life differently than I did then.
Every person I come across is a life God wants to touch, no matter who they are, no matter if they know Him already or not.
And no encounter a person may have with God -even if it is in brushing against His joy in me through a smile- is too small. The light of God is capable of shining through every act He leads us to do.
There is no special mission just "out there". There is no person who is called to be walled in in a safe bubble either.
Every child of God is a trophy of His grace He wants to use as proof to a dying world that He is real.
That is because each life matters to Him. Every soul is a prize He wants to own. (2 Peter 3:9)
That is one reason I have been writing about the love of God so much, my dear reader.
You need to know in experience that God loves you.
But you also need to understand that this experience of His love is not supposed to stop with you. It is meant to spread like wildfire to a dying world.
What you are about to read is convicting. I wrote it with trembling hands, convicted myself as the words were penned.
No, I do not speak as one who has this down, but rather as one whose perspective has radically changed from that self-centered teenage girl a long time ago asking God to open her eyes to the world around her.
He has opened my eyes, and I have a hunch He is not done yet. He has more of His heart for those around us He wants us to see.
So, read at your own risk, but know as you do so that you are loved by your heavenly Father.
Listen for His call to radical surrender to Him. He wants you.
He calls you to be fully His.
Let Him lovingly call you closer to His heart as you read this.
Let Him gently open your eyes to His perspective.
Let Him show you what He sees when He looks at the world around you.
Don't look away from what He shows you. Let His fire burn in you. Allow His love to shape you. Allow His heart to move you to action.
For our God is always working, and we are meant to join Him in His work. (John 5:17)
//
Conquest -something the devil is good at.
He conquered realms, kingdoms, countries, people groups, and each individual heart.
Those who were meant to belong to God belong to the Kingdom of Darkness instead -all because of one strategic move in that garden long ago.
We are all born into his domain -that grotesque, miserable domain of darkness- slaves to this cruel master who hates us through and through.
Destined to a cruel end.
Destined to die and be with this unkind master forever.
Except, in hell, he will be visible to us in all of his ugliness and horror.
And we will find that he never meant any of his promises to give us good things though we stayed on his side.
No, his intent has always been to destroy us.
But you -People of Light- you say you have something we do not. You claim to be loved by a King of Light.
You say you are on the winning side.
We look in your church windows and see you singing as though Your King has won some great victory.
But do you even see us?
We sit in painful darkness, destined to a cruel end and you don't even tell us why you are so happy.
You say we are loved, but we search for proof of it in you, desperately longing for you to be that physical evidence that this Jesus that came down as Light in the darkness is still alive.
You say He has resurrected from the dead and that same resurrection power is in you, but when will we see Him in you?
When will we start to feel the strong pull of His love in you?
When will your life present to us reasons to believe?
You claim your King is victorious, but why do you love the same sin that keeps us in darkness?
You claim He is all-powerful, but why do you look so joyless, stressed and burnt out, just like us?
Isn't your King a Conqueror who is greater than ours? Then why do you not follow Him into the darkness with that penetrating light you possess?
Why do you not care about our chains?
Why do you not notice the hopelessness we feel?
If your King laid down His life for the world, why do you not follow Him and lay down your life for us?
We desperately long for proof that your King exists, for He sounds too good to be true.
Will you please show us?
Shouldn't you see us as He does?
Shouldn't you weep in anguish over our plight?
Shouldn't you have compassion that moves you towards even the worst of us?
You say your weapons are more powerful than ours, but why do we not see you using them?
We slap you on one cheek, but you do not offer the other.
We take away your coat, but you do not give us your cloak also.
We ask some favors from you, but instead of going the second mile as your King commands, we see you doing the bare minimum.
We see you planning revenge instead of praying for those who unfairly treat you.
We believe the devil's lies about ourselves and God, but you do not speak the truth to us in love.
Why do we not see Him in you -you who claim to be His?
Why do we not recognize His light shining through you into our darkness?
Do you really think that that light you have is something we do not want?
Do you really believe that we wouldn't be drawn to His supernatural love in you were you to walk in it?
Do you really think we aren't starving for a kind King to loosen our chains and set us free from this darkness?
Do you really believe that we don't notice you -His people - and wish in our deepest recesses for Him to pursue us through you?
We are chained in darkness. Doubt and hopelessness are our friends, but we long for freedom, hope and light.
Will you come to us and let Your King reach out through you to touch us?
Oh, you who call yourselves children of light -is your King real?
We are watching, longing for His light to shine in our darkness, starving for the real deal.
Are you really His?
Can you just move out of the way so we can see Him?
Can you just live as His possession?
Can you just let Him use your hands and feet to come to us and demonstrate the Light and Love of Christ that we need to see for ourselves is real?
We are waiting.
Sincerely,
Those Chained in Darkness
//
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
"Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father inn heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)
"Then He said to His disciples, 'the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.'" (Matthew 9:37)
"...We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us." (1 Thessalonians 2:8)
//
Child of God,
Do we not have a hope that transcends all odds?
Do we not possess life beyond the grave?
Do we not have access to everything we need for life and godliness?
Do we not have a Lover that has passionately pursued us and rescued us from utter darkness?
Do we not see that we hold a Treasure in these earthen vessels that the world needs?
Do we not have limitless resources in our King?
Then we have something to give. We have Jesus.
We have a Light to shine into the darkness. We have a Kingdom of Righteousness and Light to speak of that nobody else has.
We have a Father who is kind and compassionate that others need.
We have a story to tell -not only with our words, but with our whole lives.
...What are we waiting for?
///
To dive deeper into the love of Jesus, read my post called What is Love?
Also, check out my last post called A Laying-Down-Your-Life Sort of Love for more.
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