One of my teammates and I were just talking about our walks of life and the people in them and we just kept hoping that there will be no sin too big for God – that regardless of our past, our gracious Father God can redeem us if we let Him. As we kept talking, I was reminded of the life of Paul. In his former life, he murdered Christians – that was his walk of life, that was his job. But after a divine appointment, he changed his name and went on to become one of God’s greatest vessels for spreading hope. His life is a great example of the fact that there is no sin too big for God. There is no sin that will put you too far from the redemptive hands of him who created you and me.
I also realize I’ve been thinking on these thoughts for a while because yesterday we went out into poor traffic lights and street corners of San Salvador to provide food and to speak to broken people there. Our first encounter was with this 24 yr old young man named Johnathan, who was struggling with drug addiction and stealing. For some reason, I felt like he’d just been sitting there waiting for us. He was raised in a Christian home but had fallen wayward had already spent 8 years in prison and he was sitting homeless with another such person at a traffic light. As we began to converse with him and as he told us his story, so much shame and guilt flowed from him – his clenched jaw, his quivering face, his fidgeting fingers and his curled up seated position. As we began to speak life into him, we could just see the love in his eyes as tears fell from his face… He stopped us and said “all that is easy to say, but you don’t realize the mistakes I have made, all the ways I’ve hurt my family, no one will accept me for my wrongs, not even my family” … “God knows your life and your mistakes and even if your family or friends or passers by will not accept you, God has and He will change your life – you don’t have to live this life anymore. He will take you by the hand and guide you into the new life that He has set apart for you because you are a son of God.” – we said these things to him and he just began to feel more and more convicted and you could just feel such amazing grace surround him as he came face to face with His overwhelming love. As we huddled around and prayed for this man, he began to shake as he cried out and was moved by God. It was such a powerful experience.
When we were done praying we noticed that part of our team had been praying for the other homeless men at that spot, including Jonathan’s friend so we laid our hand on his friend and joined them in prayer. As I reached in to lay a hand on his friend, Jonathan who was seated next to me reached out and laid his hand on his friend’s shoulder and began praying and crying out for his friend!
