A few weeks ago I was sitting at the dining room table with one of my friends. This young man is one of the most confident and upbeat young men I know. His story gave life to my story not too long ago. His perseverance, tenacity, and courage inspire me. But on this particular day, something wasn’t right. His face was downcast and his spirit was heavy.
We were filling out an application for a new position at his company. He has the English skills he needs. He has had the training he needs. But he keeps getting passed over for the job because management does not know this. They have not taken time to look at his application because of the color of his skin. They have already determined that he does not have the language and that all he can do is hang chickens on a rack. And his question to me was “why can’t they see who I am?” Who is he? He is a man with a soul that has been beaten until he no longer feels like he can stand.
I called his name and he replied without raising his head. My heart broke because I knew the man that was. I asked him to look me in the eye and when he did I started reminding him of who he is. A man with a destiny that God made clear when he was just a child. A fighter who overcame tremendous odds to survive jungles and rivers and refugee camps and fear to be sitting across the table from me. A man who is loved beyond measure by a God who sees.
Romans 8:37-39 - No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I was watching as a young woman I know reached out to hold a disabled child. She gently unstrapped him from his protective seat and held him in her arms and spoke to him in her language – one that he did not understand. But she held him close and looked him in the eye and she reached beyond the barriers between them to show the love that was inside of her for a child. I looked on wondering what was going on in her heart because I was there when her own child was born without breath. I was privileged to watch her minister to other children both in her language and in English throughout this ministry weekend. And when she was asked to reflect on her time with our team she said “I didn’t think I had anything to give because I am nothing.” She is most definitely not nothing. She is a precious gift from God with talents and treasures in her heart that she shares without cost. And we told her so.
Zephaniah 3:17 - The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
A young man was in trouble with the police. I was called in by friends of the family to try to speak into his life. He had never met me before and wasn’t quite sure what to do with me. But I felt like I had met him before. I have looked into those same eyes. Eyes that have lost hope. Eyes that are almost blank from the pain of being an outcast. I am learning to look deep to see what glimmer is still there. He had it. It was pretty far down but I called out to it. I told him I understood why he was angry and afraid. And I told him that it was okay. And then I told him how I think God sees him. And I told him that he had worth. And I told him that he could call God – and on me – anytime. And I meant it. The pull of the gangs is strong. But the pull of the love of God is stronger. So I am going to keep standing there holding the rope between the two until God wins or until He tells me to let go. His step-father tells me that he has no brain. He also tells me that he should be locked up. And perhaps he should. But I will wait until God sees fit to let him go to jail. And even then I might go visit him in jail. Because he is not nothing. He is a child created in the image of God just waiting to be set free.
Romans 5:8 - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It is not much, this thing that God has called me to. But it is not nothing. And I will keep doing it as long as he lets me wake up in the morning.
“How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only son
To make a wretch His treasure…”
~Stuart Townend