Gosh there have been so many thoughts going through my head these last several days. There has been turmoil in our nation and in our state. There has been division and disappointment. There has been a searching for answers and explanation when sometimes there really just isn't any. My thoughts though have been around the healing power of a sweet and holy God who loves us through all of our imperfections. He loves us when we make the wrong choices...He loves us when we choose to base opinions and blame on everything but love...He loves us when we fall short...in fact He doesn't just love us...He carries us.
I was especially struck this week by the overwhelming grief that has gripped our nation. From the tragedy in Dallas to the senseless acts of violence in Louisiana and Minnesota we are hurting...we are grieving...and we are looking for healing in all of the wrong places. We are depending on retaliation and earthly judgement for our healing when really what our nation needs is the One True Healer...Jesus Christ. Our God is the ultimate healer. He longs to wrap His loving arms around us and heal our grief...soothe our broken hearts. We all fall short, but where we fall the most short is in not seeking Him above all else. This is what I will pray for our nation and this world is that we solely seek Him and His divine healing powers above all else. No march...no earthly unification...no singling out what lives matter versus another will ever bring us to the eternal healing that only Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, will bring. He calls us to do all things in love...period...nothing else...follow Him and do all things through a loving heart. Let's break that down. Do you think that any act of violence...any mass shooting...any profiling whether based on race or choice of profession is ever done from a loving heart. I boldly say NO...not the kind of loving peaceful heart that our God calls us to. I choose to lay my battles at the feet of a God who is far mightier than me...who has already won and fought the battle...I choose Him and Him alone for all my earthly battles and friends there is more freedom in that than I could ever put into words.
The other thoughts that have been heavily occupying my mind this week is the struggle Perry Noble, his family, and New Spring Church have been going through. Ugh my heart just breaks for all of them. Perry is a good man...did he make mistakes...yes, but you give me one person that hasn't and I will drop the mic and walk away...newsflash...this mic isn't dropping anytime soon. WE ALL FALL SHORT...EVERY.LAST.ONE.OF.US. I am no better than Perry Noble, as a matter of fact, his struggle has made me take a long hard look at my own struggle. I too find myself using alcohol to celebrate...to commiserate...to blow off a hard day...to "cope" with the day to day struggle of stress and life and everything that scurries through this constantly running mind on a day to day basis. I have at times allowed it to impair my judgement....I have allowed it to occupy a space that I should have clearly asked the Lord to pour in to. The difference is, thankfully for me, I don't head a successful multi-site huge mega church. I get to live my sin in the shadows of anonymity...convincing myself that no one will ever be the wiser because instead of facing it head on I have learned to work around this "little" sinful habit of mine. I don't think the consumption of alcohol is a sin...not in the least little bit...what I do believe is the sin is the excess...the allowing alcohol to take the place and fill the spot that only my God should fill. That's all me...that's not the alcohol. The alcohol didn't walk up to me at that dinner and persuade me to drink more than that one glass I should have...that's me...that's my conscious sinful choice. There is where the microphone drops. That.is.real.life.truth. Perry Noble needs our prayers...I need prayer...many many people need our intercession on their behalf to a healing loving God. I haven't attended New Spring, but I have people I love more than myself that have and have been changed forever because God used Perry Noble to show that even an imperfect servant is still a servant...God doesn't choose the most perfectly qualified disciples...He chooses the disciples that everyone is going to look at and say "yeah that has to be ALL God!" It is all for His glory...every.last.bit!
So today I am praying for Perry...I am praying for his family...I am praying for New Spring Church...most importantly I am praying for all the people out there, myself included, who can recognize themselves in Perry Noble and are given the freedom to not live in fear of their sins being seen, but live in the knowledge of a loving healing God who longs for nothing more than to wrap us in His arms and tell us He loves us despite that sin.
The take home is do EVERYTHING with a Jesus like loving heart. The rest will all fall into place. No judgement...no backs turned...
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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