This week I had the opportunity to preach at a slum outreach. Most of the members of this pop-up church are displaced people from neighboring Burma. They have kind eyes and worn callused hands from earning their living doing manual labor. They live in homes thrown together with whatever scrap material they can find. But their hospitality is unmatched. They rolled out this big black tarp which would be our church. They strung up two lights between close by trees which would carry us past the sunset. It was one of those moments I couldn’t believe that the Father chose me. Me. To be the one who gets to talk to these new friends of mine on a Tuesday night in Thailand.
Here’s the message I decided to share that night:
HI. MY NAME IS GRACE. IM 18. AND IM FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. IM SO EXCITED TO SPEND MY EVENING JUST TALKING WITH YOU GUYS.
I WANNA START OFF MY SAYING THAT IF I DO THIS RIGHT. THEN ALL OF THESE WORDS I SAY TO YOU. WONT BE MY OWN. THEY WILL BE GOD SPEAKING THROUGH ME. I ONLY WANT TO BE A VESSEL FOR HIM TO SPEAK THROUGH ME, TO YOU.
ALRIGHT. SO. TONIGHT WERE GONNA TALK ABOUT HOPE. RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU HAVE EVER IN YOUR LIFE- EVEN FOR ONE MINUTE- FELT LIKE YOU DON’T HAVE ANY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. THE FUTURE COULD MEAN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES. THE NEXT WEEK. THE NEXT 3 MONTHS. OR MAYBE EVEN MULTIPLE YEARS.
I KNOW I HAVE FELT HOPELESS MANY TIMES IN MY LIFE. I HAVE FELT HOPELESS FOR 5 MINUTES WHEN I DIDN’T STUDY FOR A BIG TEST IN SCHOOL. AND I KNEW I WOULD GET A BAD GRADE. AND BECAUSE OF MY BAD GRADE MY PARENTS WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED WITH ME. I HAVE FELT HOPElESS FOR MONTHS WHEN I WAS 13 AND I STRUGGLED WITH REALLY BAD ANXIETY. I FELT LIKE I COULD NEVER DO ENOUGH. BE GOOD ENOUGH.
WHEN IN REALITY. THESE WERE ALL JUST LIES FROM THE ENEMY. I FELT LIKE I HAD NO HOPE BECAUSE I CHOSE TO TAKE MY EYES OFF OF THE ONE THING THAT ALWAYS GIVES HOPE. AND THAT ONE THING IS JESUS. WHEN THINGS WERE HARD. WHEN I FELT LIKE I COULDN’T BE GOOD ENOUGH. WHEN I FELT LIKE MY PARENTS WOULD NEVER BE PROUD OF ME. I SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY EYES FOCUSED ON JESUS. MY MIND FOCUSED ON JESUS. AND MY HEART FOCUSED ON JESUS. I CAN TELL YOU WITHOUT A DOUBT IN MY MIND. THAT IF I HAD DONE THOSE THINGS. I WOULD HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH HOPE EVEN IN THE MOST HOPELESS SITUATIONS. IF YOU FIX YOUR THOUGHTS ON JESUS, JESUS WILL FIX YOUR THOUGHTS.
ANOTHER WAY TO SAY HOPE- IS TO SAY EXPECT WITH CONFIDENCE. AND WHEN I READ THOSE WORDS, I TOOK A MINUTE TO THINK. TO THINK ABOUT THE BIBLE. ALL THE STORIES WRITTEN IN IT. ALL OF THE MOMENTS WRITTEN AND SAVED IN THIS BOOK. OVER AND OVER THERE IS PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE WHO HAVE HARD TIMES. THE STRUGGLE. AND MOST OF THE TIME IT WAS WITH THINGS MUCH MORE SEVERE THAN GETTING A BAD GRADE ON A TEST. AND EVERY SINGLE TIME- THE ENEMY WOULD TRY TO WIN THE FIGHT BY MAKING THESE PEOPLE THINK THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE. NO WAY THEY ARE GONNA MAKE IT OUT. AND EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. JESUS WINS. HE SHOWS UP. AND THEN HOPE FLOODS IN. HE WINS EVERY SINGLE TIME. HE WON THE ULTIMATE BATTLE OVER DEATH. HE ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY JUST AS THE DISCIPLES THOUGHT THEY HAD LOST JESUS FOREVER. LOST THEIR SORCE OF HOPE. AND THEN JESUS ROSE AGAIN. HE WON. AGAIN. HOPE WON.
THERE IS SIMPLY NO REASON THAT WE SHOULDN’T HAVE COMPLETE CONFIDENCE IN JESUS CHRIST. EVER SINGLE TIME HE FINDS US IN OUR MESS AND IN OUR STRUGGLE. AND HE PULLS OUT OUT OF THE LOW PLACE WE ARE IN, AND INTO HOPE. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS FIX OUR EYES ON HIM. AND ASK FOR HELP. AND HE HELPS.
ROMANS 8:28 SAYS, “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.”
GOD CAN TURN AROUND ANY SITUATION. HE HAS PROVED THAT TO US. HE HAS GIVEN US SO MANY REASONS TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN WHO HE IS AS A FATHER AND AS A FRIEND THAT WE PROBABLY CANT EVEN COUNT THEM.
SO MY CHALLENGE FOR YOU BROTHERS AND SISTERS IS THAT YOU WILL EXPECT WITH CONFIDENCE THAT OUR CREATOR CAN RESTORE YOUR HOPE.
HE CAN AND WILL TURN YOUR HOPELESSNESS INTO ENDLESS HOPE.
THERE IS SO MUCH GOODNESS WAITING FOR YOU IF YOU CHOOSE HIM. AND IM SO SO EXCITED FOR YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT GOODNESS ONE DAY. HE IS WAITING FOR YOU WITH ARMS OPEN WIDE.
SAY YES!!!
