He had just heard me sharing the gospel with a large group of people. Standing off about 15 yards away, he slowly started walking my way and called for me to come over to him. I was there that morning for him and for whomever the Lord put in my path.
I didn't recognize him at first. Fighting back tears, he reminded me that he was the man I had witnessed to some six months ago almost on that very spot. The last time we met, he confided that he had been running from God because his brother, a fireman, had been attacked by three thieves who had broken into his home. They broke his legs with a baseball bat, drenched him in gasoline, and burned him alive "because they wanted to see what it would be like for a fireman to die in a fire." As a result of that gut-wrenching tragedy, he lost faith in God and had been running. I simply told him that God loved him, had not turned his back on him, fully understood his pain, and was calling out to him through me. I just tried to love him and encourage him. I had told him that day that the Lord understood his pain, because the Lord himself suffered on the cross all of the pain, sorrow, and tragedy suffered by all mankind as a result of an infinite amount of sin committed by all mankind (Is. 53:1-5).
This time, he asked me to pray for him because his daughter had been missing for a couple of days and the police had not yet located her. I prayed for him. I prayed for his daughter. I asked him how he was doing spiritually. Not well, he admitted. I urged him to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" and all else in his life would begin to fall into place (Matt. 6). He said that his mother had told him the very same thing earlier that morning. He hadn't been attending church, so I encouraged him to come to ours or get plugged into a healthy, well-balanced, bible-teaching church where he could be nurtured in his walk with the Lord. I told him I would be praying for him and his daughter.
The Lord not only knows our sorrows intimately, he suffered the full weight of them and the very sin that caused them in order that he might be able to completely sympathize with each of us in a way that none of us could do for each other (Is. 53). Have you cast all of your cares on Him? Have you confessed all of your sins to him? Have you cried out to him for salvation? Have you received the righteousness that He offers by faith in his finished work that we celebrate this very Resurrection weekend? If you have not turned from going your own way to following Him daily, please do so now before it's too late.
No comments:
Post a Comment