What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of family? Love? Joy? Safety? Home? Or maybe it’s something more like broken. Fear. Hopeless. Pain.
These past few months on the race God has painted us a beautiful picture of family restoration. He has showed us example after example of how he can take the most broken situations and bring light and hope.
Last month our contact Umong shared his family’s story of coming to Christ with us. His brother heard about Jesus as he was learning English. Then through the change in him and his constant prayers, his other brothers began to accept Jesus. Then his mother and father saw their children’s new lives and his father said he wanted it too! Slowly one by one the whole family came to know Jesus and now they run a church and an English school in their community. One of the brothers even feels like God is calling him to be a missionary in china!
This month, our contact shared a very similar story. He had a friend who relentlessly asked him to come to church. He said he knew there was a God but he didn’t know which one was the true God, so he would pray to all of them for the true God to show himself. He finally gave in and went to church with the man, and he encountered Jesus. Again, his family slowly started to change. His brother spied on him and would tell his father that he was going to a Christian church to get him into trouble. But again, his family could see a change in him, and they began to want that change too.
God has just been saying to me over and over that He heals families. Those two examples are only a couple of the ways he has shown his redemptive power the past few months. God restores families. That message is universal. So many families, even families in the church who appear to have everything together, are suffering from brokenness. Whether the brokenness comes from lack of salvation or from past hurts, Jesus is always the answer and it all starts with one. One person stepping out in faith. Maybe just in prayer at first. But fervently petitioning God to heal their family.
If this resonates with you, I challenge you to be the one. If you’re the only one who has accepted Jesus in your family be honored that God has chosen you to share the light with them. Don’t give up hope. Maybe your whole family goes to church but there’s unrest. Past hurts or even present that are shaking the foundations that you believed would always stand firm. Again, I would say to you be the one. Be the one that chooses love instead of keeping count of offenses. Be the one that chooses to stay silent instead of snapping back. Be the love that’s missing and it will spread.
God heals and restores families, and He loves to do it when it seems impossible. Trust in Him, have faith, and watch Him work.
