Even Cooler

A couple of weeks ago a person came and spoke to me after church…

“I’ve heard you say that our church has a lot of people in it who have been hurt in ministry.  I am one of those people.  I came to this church pretty broken and not wanting to do anything but just sit.  But I heard you say, ‘Someone here has a broken heart that God is healing it right now.”  It was me!  I could feel something change inside me.  For the first time in years I feel like letting God use me again.”

One of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to capitalize on our past pain and failures by using them to keep us from getting involved in anything or anyone that might make us vulnerable again.  He doesn’t need to kill us, just sideline us.

It may be that we’ve forgiven those who have hurt us, or let go of the stuff that didn’t work out right. We’re not angry or bitter anymore. We even go to church every so often.  But we have succumb to something much worse, isolation.  

You can be in a room full of people and still be all by yourself

The Bible speaks of isolation this way:

“A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment. ” (Proverbs 18:1)

Living without others in our life may feel safe, but it is actually dangerous.  God has designed every one of us with an inherent need for relationships and it’s through these relationships that God works.  When we isolate ourselves, God’s work is limited and therefore we’re in danger of missing something He wants to do to us or through us.

Off the bench, or pew

It’s cool to hear about people like the woman mentioned above being released from past junk, but it’s even cooler that like this woman, God releases us so that we can be used again.

By the way, someone is waiting for you.