11PM. Hungry. Tired. Definitely tired. We walked the streets of Washington D.C. on our way to dinner. A very late dinner. It was starting to rain.
That’s when we noticed Corrine. She was hanging out with her two dogs under a store front awning wearing colorfully striped socks and no shoes. An army book bag lay at her feet, one of her only belongings. She looked cold and hungry.
“Be willing to be inconvenienced to share the love of God…“
Heidi Baker’s voice rang in my head as I glanced at our tired and hungry team. Heidi, one of my faith heroes, commissioned us earlier that day at the event Awaken the Dawn to bring the love of Jesus to the streets of D.C.. This moment seemed inconvenient, but it felt like there was a chance God had planned this meeting.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, handing her a fig bar.
“Yes, thanks!” She said. Corrine glanced at my water bottle from Awaken the Dawn. The tagline on the bottle read “the harvest is waiting for you…” (referring to Luke 10:2: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” )
“What’s the harvest?” She asked.
“This harvest refers to people who don’t know the love of Jesus Christ and who are waiting to hear about Him,” I said.
“Oh…that’s interesting,” She said with a smile.
My friends and I began to talk with Corrine, exchanging our thoughts on God. For an hour and a half she shared her story of doubts, struggles, and hope. We encouraged her as a team and told her about the destiny God has placed on her life to make an impact for good. We told her that God loved her.
“I used to have faith as a kid,” she said. Through letdown and life, she had lost faith.
“Do you want to have a relationship with Jesus again?” We asked her.
And that night Corrine gave her life back to Jesus.
We prayed with her and she felt the presence of God overwhelm her. Chains began to break as joy filled her face. Faith began to replace doubt. Love chased out fear.
We exchanged hugs with our new friend and welcomed her into the family.
Leaving the 99 for the ONE
In a parable in Luke 15, Jesus told the story of a good shepherd who left his flock of 99 sheep to go after the one that wandered away. In the same one, God runs after us to bring us home to His love.
What constantly amazes me about the Father is that He is not waiting for us to clean up our act before we come to Him. He wants us just as we are. It’s His love and His Spirit that gives us the power, the grace, and the desire to be transformed.
He is a kind King and all of heaven rejoices over the one that comes into the Kingdom.
Who are the ones around you in this season that you can reach with love?
Is anything holding you back from doing so?
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