So Many To Reach

For as long as I can remember, if I have ever felt the pull toward a ministry, it was toward one maybe two people groups. It seems everywhere I turn these days, I'm drawn toward another and yet another people group. There are so many people to reach out there. Whether God is simply further revealing His heart for people to me or whether He's preparing to expand my reaches, I am more vividly aware of people and their conditions lately.

Also, I'm drawn toward people groups that have frightened me in the past. I now feel compassion and warmth toward them, and I realize what a privilege it is to find yourself involved in their lives. It's so much more difficult to share the love of Christ or gospel with someone that feels disconnected from you. A Spirit-filled moment with that person would be just that - purely because the Spirit has filled the moment. However, in other cases it's not likely that someone so different from you would entrust their spirituality to you. It's the most private place within a person - to truly know their beliefs, fears, questions and doubts. How could I ever express the compassion and love I feel for them (because of God's grace and love) when I am completely outside the box.

I'm excited to see where God will take this journey. Never has a change of heart resulted in a dead end. God does not lead us on wild goose chases. The only reason one finds nothing in a journey like that is because that person has decided to stop following God's leading - because they stopped trusting Him. Sometimes it takes years to makes sense of even a small part of it. But there is always a reason. Always.

I find it beautiful that these revelations or the change of heart occurring within me are happening just after I have started my new job, working in outreach at my church. Rather than fearing to approach certain topics or groups, I look for an opportunity to spread or support those ministries. This is one of the areas of my character that I believed to be a permanent flaw for me. I never thought that I would have a heart for prison ministries or reaching Muslims or people who live on the "wrong side of the track." I never thought I would have the ease in approaching nearly anyone - not with some kind of manipulation or conversion in mind but truly because I care about that person. I look forward to building friendships, not strained relationships with people who view me as "one of those Christians." I'm not interested in religion. I haven't been for quite some time. I'm interested in people and the love that Christ has for them - as He has for me.

There's no way for me to understand this guidance. I'm simply aware that God is preparing my heart for something down the road. Maybe the path that will explain these changes is just a bit further and maybe it's quite a bit down the road. I'm in no hurry. My journey is with God. And as I heard a song preach to me today, "Your love, your love, all I've ever needed is your love." No matter where I am, what I'm doing or what's next in my life, the love of God is all I've ever needed and will ever need. I pray that I can share that joy and message with...whoever it is God aligns my path to meet.