Living Stones / June 1 2007

( Church Planting In Croatia )

http://valjak.blogspot.com/

I did something rather unwise the other morning, I prayed something like, "Lord use me as an instrument of your love in peoples lives today". It seemed that the phone did not stop ringing until about 11 pm that night with people, many really hurting people, and God continued to answer that prayer over the next several days. Now my prayer is, " Lord, I said today but that was a week ago and the phone still will not stop ringing", then the verse came to mind, A day with the Lord is as a thousand years........ Oh dear, I am in trouble.........but joking aside it is wonderful yet hard to follow God in touching others lives.

I have been meeting with K. for some time who really struggles in life. She has been suicidal for years, going to occult practitioners looking for help, always under a heavy burden and somehow really a victim of so much sadness. Yesterday as four of us visited with her she prayed to receive the Lord into her life. All the frustrations of the last few days melted into the glory of joy of someone who has been so lost was found by the Lord Jesus.

K. is an extreme example of many of the people I meet with. On Wednesday night about one hours drive away I was teaching a group of about 8 women all who have stories of rejection and pain. Humanly, there is nothing within me that can solve some of these deep, very deep problems. Super-naturally, there are unlimited resources in the heart of God for such ones. It never ceases to amaze me how the Word of God touches lives in pain with the healing love of God.

But life is not these just joyful highlights, it is cleaning up the mess of a teenage son who gets sick for three days with stomach trouble, it is a flat tire far from home without the tools to fix it, it is juggling schedules that then get canceled, it is the price of diesel always going up and never down, it is waiting in line in the bread store. This is where victory has to be won not just cleaning up the mess of spiritual darkness and sin. But to be honest we have no other option than to start the day again with, "Lord use me as an instrument of your love in peoples lives today"....... may it be so.

1Peter 2:5 You, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

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