Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.
Romans 10: 1-4
These people are lost. This country is lost. It is steeped in darkness. People look to everything and anything to answer their questions and fill the void. They don’t find what they are looking for.
You can see it on their faces. They are blank. They are empty. They are hopeless.
80% of Thai men see a prostitute on a regular basis. (I got that number from a Human Trafficking presentation that I listened to, so the number may or may not be accurate. However, the missionaries I have talked to in Thailand would agree with that number.) They are looking for love. They don’t know what real love is. All you have to do is look at their faces. Despair. Hopelessness. They are desperate for a savior…they just don’t know that their savior is Jesus Christ.
Women in this country are taught to provide for their families. This is their purpose. They have no idea how amazing they really are. They function only to serve their families. They don’t matter…even in their own eyes. They don’t know that they are beautiful and that Christ died for them. They don’t know that they were created with a plan and a purpose. They are lost and they are desperately searching for peace. They see nothing better in their futures. They have no hope. They are desperate for a savior.
Today, a Red Shirt rally started in Chiang Mai as we were having church. People are upset that they government they look to for protection is failing them. The political situation is complicated at best, and I don’t understand any of it. But people are angry. And they want change. They are looking to the government to save them. Looking to a government instead of a savior.
Last night, I took three girls into the Red Light District in Chiang Mai.
We walked down the street. Then we walked back to the the top. Then we walked back down. We talked to bar girls. We talked to lady boys. We talked to men. We talked to women. We talked to tourists. We talked to beggars on the street. We smiled, sat with them and laughed as the language barrier got in the way. We spent time with them. We showed them love. We prayed for them. We shared truth with them. We met Australians, Americans, Dutch, Thai, and British people. All needed the love of Christ.
You don’t have to look far to find the people Jesus talks about. The poor. The broken. The outcasts. The hurting. The ones that NEED him.
I told my team today that we need to stop begging God to show up and to start EXPECTING God to show up. He loves these people. Of course His will is for them to realize the love that He has for them. Of course His will is that they would be made whole and complete through His son. I don’t want to beg him to do what he already wants to do. I want to release him to do it through me. Not because he needs to use me, but because I choose to be a vessel for him. Because I choose obedience over fear. Because I surrender my LIFE…because I offer myself as a living sacrifice. Because I allow him to move freely through me.
It is so easy to get overwhelmed when you are surrounded by darkness. Where do I start? What do I do?
As I dive into the presence of God, he will lead me and guide me. As I spend more time with Him, my heart will break for what breaks His. He will begin to give me his heart for his people. And as I seek his face, Hi will fill me with His love. And that love will overflow into the darkness. I have the light of Jesus inside of me. When I love people, I let that light shine. Out of that love, God will move in amazing ways to bring freedom. God is love. God shows up when we love. And when he shows up – the blind WILL see, the deaf WILL hear, the lame WILL walk, and the DEAD WILL RISE!!! It all comes out if intimacy with my Daddy…
There is so much that He wants to do in this nation. There is so much that He wants to do in me. There is so much he wants to do in this team. I want to help show His love…I want to help people understand what Christ has done for them. I want their zeal to be directed in the right place!!! I want my words to be his words. I want to see with His eyes. I want to hear with His ears. I want to LISTEN and OBEY!!!
Help me pray!!!
For this nation, for my team, for boldness with the Gospel, for God to move in amazing ways…Just PRAY!!!
