I lay here on my bed, thinking. I spent all but a few hours last night, and the nights before, tossing and turning myself into everywhere but sleep. I hate those nights, those nights when insomnia attacks with all it’s force. Tonight, I am beyond tired, but I can already tell I probably won’t be sleeping much again. I’ve already spent some time with the Lord, and then read chapters out of three other books. 0.o Now, I’m here as I type. Nearly empty page as the cursor continues to blink at me. Okay, here’s what’s on my heart. I’m not blind to what is around me. I can see; I understand it. I can see people I used to look up to and respect fall and disappoint me. I can see former members leave and forget God. I can see attendance dwindling. I can see our youth group becoming smaller. I can see kids, teens, and adults, hurting. I can see teens in rebellion or defiance of God, or simply have no interest in Him. I can see families destroyed. I can see marriages failing. I can see love fading; love for the Lord, and the love toward other people. I can see the hearts of us being hardened to what’s going on around us. I can see friends become enemies because of un-forgiveness. I can see people who we ‘rub shoulders’ with week after week, and yet, are so over-looked, lonely, and uncared for. I can see my youth group loosing it’s zeal and determination for the Lord. I can see a loss of faithfulness. I can see ‘comfortablility’ in the church. I can see a fear of involvement, those who ‘act busy’ to avoid being asigned a job. I can see resentment for a job they get ‘stuck’ with. I can see a lack of thankfulness. I can see all this, but God gave me more than eyes. If you want to see a change, you must make a change. And in order to change, you must be willing to be uncomfortable. One of the first Sundays with our youth pastor, I don’t even remember what He was refering to, but I remember him making a remark... “It’s like playing ping-pong”, (back then, ping-pong was the IBTeens “thing”, now, it’s carpet ball)......”the ball comes to you, you can’t just stand there and do nothing. The balls in your court, you must hit it back...”. So, the weight of this situation is on our sholders. Our tendancy is to pass the blame, but that won’t change anything. This generation, my generation, needs to step it up and get in the game. The balls in our court. It’s our move. Quit trying to pass the ball of responsibility off. You can’t just stand there, move! Leave it all on the court. Be the ‘cheerleader’ for those who need it. Get ‘in shape’ yourself! We have no control over what our ‘teammates’ do, but we do have control over what we do. What can we do? Pray. Be faithful. Obey God. Invite others. Witness. Visit. Encourage. Care. Love the Lord. Love others. Forgive. Get involved. Give. Be thankful. Work. Do all you can. Support your leaders. Pray for them. Help them. Get in the game. There has been one person in my youth group. They have not come to the teen class for quite some time, but they do come to church with their family. They seem lonely, hurt, and distant. They have been heavy on my heart lately. What can I do for them? I don’t know. But I will pray for them, love them, encourage them, visit with them, and pray for them again. I will make my move. So, what are you waiting for? It’s your move.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Lizzy parkerMarriage.
Motherhood. Ministry. Missions. Archives
January 2023
|