Life On MissionMuestra

Years ago, I was having extremely bad headaches. Eventually I was having some short-term memory loss, vomiting, blurred vision and anxiety. I went to the doctor and they ordered an MRI to see if I might have a brain tumor. Waiting for the results was the longest four days ever. I was sick, scared and I felt the world closing in on me. Fortunately, the results showed no tumor and I started feeling better soon.

Feeling broken and hurt is a desperate place to be. Thankfully, I had my family, my church, my friends and God. However, I often imagine if I had to go that path all alone. The truth is that many people around us are going through very difficult things and they need peace. Like you and me, they’ll search until something satisfies their immediate need. Will you and I pick up the mission to meet broken and hurting people right where they are?

In the book of Jeremiah, God’s people found themselves taken from Jerusalem and placed in captivity in Babylon. Straight from peace to chaos, probably wondering where their God was. They likely intended to do the very same thing we would have. They would have wanted to distance themselves from the culture, language, rituals and practices of their oppressors. They wanted walls of separation. Jeremiah delivers a better plan, God’s plan.

God sent them into that chaos and he had a plan to bring peace. The peace he wants to bring will be ushered in by the actions and engagement of his people with the chaos around them. In the same way, God has placed us in the middle of chaos, brokenness, pain and suffering, so that we can be carriers of peace. Peace is most recognizable in chaos, just like light is in darkness and salt is in blandness.
Peace is most alluring when it is placed in opposition of chaos and confusion. So build bridges to broken people, not walls. Close the gap between yourself and those that are desperate for healing.

Take a little inventory of the people in your life. You likely have coworkers, family, friends and neighbors that are experiencing much chaos in their lives. We often catch news of tension filled marriages, stress over finances, worry about kids and health problems, but we seldom take the time to invite God to bring peace to those people. Jot down a quick list of people that would benefit from more peace in their current, chaotic situation.

Pray for those people by name. Invite God to give them perspective and peace. Pray that God would send other believers to help them. Pray for health, relationships and finances to be resolved.