Outside the Gate

A few moments to sit down and write a note to someone who needs to be appreciated...Will you reach outside the gate?  The gate of "I have no time"? the gate that says, "This doesn't really matter"?

A smile, a hug, an encouraging word...that may be all it takes to cheer someone who's spirits are down....Will you reach outside the gate?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that someone is hurting.  They're dealing with something they can't trust just anyone with, but it's eating away at them, because they can't work through it alone....Will you listen?  Will you reach outside the gate?  The gate of your own group of friends?  The gate of "this is my comfort zone"?  The gate of your own school, your own home, and your own routine?

A soul who's longing to be noticed - to be viewed a way no one has ever seen them before....Will we see them as Jesus sees them?  Will we reach outside the gate?  The gate of prejudice, the gate that says, "They're weird", or "That's not politically correct, it goes against the social norm"?

Will we reach without the gate?  Will we reach out beyond ourselves to touch someone who is hurting more?  Will we go outside our camp to find those souls for whom Christ shed His blood?  Will we follow Jesus outside the gate?

"So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make His people holy by means of his own blood.  So let us go out to Him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace He bore."

-Hebrews 13:12-13

These Moments of Ministry

The times it's raining hard, and you don't want to be driving through it, but you slowly, carefully, persevere because you have a Bible study scheduled your going to....

The faces you get to see turned from tearful, lonely, or sad, to relaxed, thankful and relieved....

The phone call you don't want to answer because it's someone hurting - a prayer request for God to work in a messy situation that only He can mend....

The times you tell your family and your best friends "I miss you, but I'm not coming to see you yet, God said 'wait', and He comes first."

The nights you are up later than you want to be, because something came up that you were not planning on doing....

The stories you get to hear that have never been told before, of the miracles God has been working in a life....

Those times you are inconvenienced, but somehow you're not being one bit impatient, and then you realize God is doing something in your life that only He could do....

The satisfaction you have when someone starts reading the Bible for themselves.  Those moments you feel helpless, like you can't keep going on, and you breathe a silent prayer, and God answers and totally takes over for you....

The fulfilment you experience when someone makes a decision to give their life to Christ, to go into the waters of baptism, to start a new life with Christ.  The joy you feel when they explain how they're excited for the new start they will now have with God....

The person who comes to church or prayer meeting because you call and encourage them almost every step of the way, telling them how they can make it and they will really enjoy it....

The hearts you get to love, the souls you feel a burden for, and the promises you find when you realize the burden is to big to bear alone...

These are the moments that make a life in ministry totally worth living!

The Gift of Life

I hadn't heard from her for a week or so. "No, I'm too busy for Bible study this week" she had told me the last time I heard from her.  For some reason, I couldn't get her off my mind, I had to go and visit her.  What was going on in her life I didn't know, but I had to push through to find out. 

I knocked at her door, she opened it wide, and let me inside.  We talked casually for a while, and then she told me what had really been going on.  Her cousin had just been killed, "He was only 21!" she exclaimed.  She followed me outside the door and told me the whole story, how he had been missing, where they found him, and that the murderer was his roommate (apparently they had been in a fight). 

I had come to another one of those moments as a Bible worker when really nothing you say matters.  I was at a loss of words.  In retrospect, the few comments I made really don't seem like they were "correct".  All I could do is point her to the source of comfort, and say how every such experience should make us long even more for Heaven.

As I drove away, I couldn't help but realize what a gift we have by just being alive!  He was too young to die!  He had his whole life ahead of him!  What if that had been one of my best friends who had just lost their life?  I'm his age and yet I'm alive....for a reason.  Life is fragile, yet how often do I take this gift for granted?  Am I spending every spare moment to speak a word of encouragement to someone who needs it?  In light of eternity are the things that I complain or stress or worry about really worth my time?  Am I showing love to those around me?  Do I value the people in my life?  Do I live life to the fullness?  When I wake up in the morning, is it with a smile on my face for another day to praise the Lord and let him lead me moment by moment?

Look Deeper

Will you look beyond what I'm saying, and take time to understand what I really mean?

Do you see through my frustrations to what is really etching at my heart?

Can you see that my questions really are a key to my heart, rather than something that I need answered?

Will you choose to look beyond the craziness of my life, and see where I'm actually going, the goals I'm pursuing, and the values I cling to when I look like I'm a mess?

Will you choose to look a little deeper?  Because I'm not ready to be perfectly honest about everything I'm holding inside.

They say I'm an extravert, but do you realize I really don't say all that is on my mind?  While I love connecting with people, sometimes I need someone to pull me out of myself.  I love meeting new people, but I value quality friendships over quantity.

You've always understood me more than I'd like to admit, but what would you say if I told you what I really want is to understand, rather than to be understood?  I want to understand you too, but I really don't know where to begin.

Can you take a moment to look beyond the facts that others see, the me that's on the surface, the person everyone knows?  Will you look a little deeper and find what I'm trying to hide, because it's deeper than what people think.

True Friendship

When you are accepted for who you are instead of being questioned “why”, or asked to explain yourself…

When you’re told, “I understand” and you know they really mean it and you don’t have to doubt….
When you’re given room to grow, but know they’re there for you when you need an encouraging word, or advice no one else can give in quite that way….


When you’re appreciated for the little things, and thanked when you don’t have to be….
When you say goodbye and your heart is still with those you’re leaving or those who are leaving you….

When someone else speaks the thoughts on your mind….You know you have somehow come across a treasure you never asked for you, you never deserved….a treasure that makes life better, but more difficult too….

It’s something to value, something I sometimes want to run from because I don’t feel good enough, yet something that touches my heart deeper than words can express....This is the treasure of true friendship. Something to value, something you never deserve.
 
Sometimes I’m tempted to run away from it, because of my independent spirit, but when I’m alone I know a part of myself is missing because life is always better when shared with true friends.