I have prayed it a time or two. But I find it a scary prayer, somewhat like patience. Its' one of the request that if you are sincere, and God does as you pray, you are not the same after.
Lately I have felt different. More compassionate, more sympathetic, more empathetic - towards others, myself, strangers, my family. But also a sense of urgency: share the Gospel, don't be quite about what Jesus has done in my life, reach out to others, we live on the edge of eternity, Jesus is coming soon - be ready!
Work is busy - tomorrow new teachers arrive, and Thursday all the rest of the staff & faculty return. We in the office are busy with admissions, computer/phone issues, vendor issues, orders arriving, submitting last minute orders, prepping for staff in-service...and soo much more. We are at our desks, we are up and down the stairs, we are on the phone (if they are working). In all of the busyness, one can get to distracted to see God in the day-to-day.
Over the past few months, through trials and transitions in our family, I have striven to see God in all that I do. The unexpected blessing of a month of free bagels from Panera, gift cards randomly from people, free uniforms for my daughter's new school, double rainbows. I want to live in wonder of my Creator.
Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
In the busyness of today, I had to leave my office and check something in an other office. I just recently have received key copies to various rooms I need access to, but I haven't had time to try them all out. My coworker gave me her keys to take with me, we know her keys work, and I went up to where I needed to go. I got upstairs, and had my hands full. By the door I needed to enter, there is a sitting area, and so I placed my stuff down. And then I saw it.
A yellow post-it note, addressed to God. While I do work in a church/private school - this post-it was out of place. I started to read it, and the three post-it's after the original. And my heart broke. Whoever wrote it is mad at God, lonely, feels isolated, but seeking God, wanting restoration. I will not forget that post-it note prayer anytime soon. I turned it all in to who I thought was appropriate, and I know they will do what they can.
But I have been emotional since then, somewhat on the verge of tears. And the lyrics, "break my heart for what breaks yours," keeps going through my mind. What breaks God's heart?
- 1st and foremost, sin
- widows and orphans being mistreated - James 1:27
- the poor being oppressed
- the righteous be persecuted
Just to name a few.
God made a beautiful world, and sin has corrupted it, made it ugly, and has warped humanity. Humans are so cruel to one another. I am not going to go into depth about what happened in Virginia this weekend. But Franklin Graham said it best on Facebook:
Shame on the politicians who are trying to push blame on President Trump for what happened in #Charlottesville, VA. That’s absurd. What about the politicians such as the city council who voted to remove a memorial that had been in place since 1924, regardless of the possible repercussions? How about the city politicians who issued the permit for the lawful demonstration to defend the statue? And why didn’t the mayor or the governor see that a powder keg was about to explode and stop it before it got started? Instead they want to blame President Donald J. Trump for everything. Really, this boils down to evil in people’s hearts. Satan is behind it all. He wants division, he wants unrest, he wants violence and hatred. He’s the enemy of peace and unity. I denounce bigotry and racism of every form, be it black, white or any other. My prayer is that our nation will come together. We are stronger together, and our answers lie in turning to God. It was good to hear that several Virginia and Charlottesville leaders attended church today at Mt. Zion. CNN said, “The racial divides that fueled Saturday’s violence were replaced by unity Sunday…” Continue to pray for peace and for all those impacted by Saturday’s tragedies.
The words I read in that prayer let me know that there is someone in my community, in my church home who has been injured by others. I do not know that person's name, but I will be praying for them, that they heal, that they do put their trust in Jesus, and that they recognize the schemes of the devil. And as with the horrific events this past weekend, I hope that people will realize that the Love of Christ is the only thing that can bring healing: to individuals, to communities, to nations, to the world.
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