Smile and Remember You Are Loved

Yesterday was one of those special days that doesn't necessarily go how you expect it to go. The RESTORE family brought a bunch of kids with us to church today. Well, some of them aren't used to being at church and abiding by the rules (rules don't go over so well for people in our neighborhood.  They seem to be in place to be broken.) needless to say I see Nich get up and walk out of church during the second song. I was really into worship and didn't want anything to bother me, so I pretended not to see him. Then I get a nudge in the side.

My wonderful wife was sitting next to me, and she knew exactly what was going on. She nudged me to get my attention and then says "Dave, they are having problems with our kids in children ministry. Go and see if you can help." I might have let out a moan under my breath, just saying. And yes, my heart was not in the right spot! But I came to church for me!!! I came to worship and hear Gods word! Oops!!! Another fatal mistake, but we all make it at times, right?  - The truth is, that is about the farthest from Gods heart... We gather together as the body of Christ so that he can be glorified through worship, the word, and our love for one another. I'm still learning the love part. And I have a long way to go. But even Paul in the new testament struggled with the Flesh, so I'm not alone.

This all happens in a moment. And in that same moment I find myself repenting for my selfish heart and remembering why God has brought me there. Before church I found Jacob Leonard and told him how great his blog post was on hipocracy, but had I even remembered it??  During preservice prayer I prayed that we would be free to hear the spirit and obey his direction of he wanted something different this morning.  But did I really believe it? 

Actions speak louder then words. I tell people that every day, and here I am. Dang! We really are a messed up people with messed up hearts.

Ok, so that is just the start of this story. I leave and go back to children's ministry where Nich is talking to one of our Kids.  The kid is Crying and yelling and super angry. I just listened as Nich is talking to this kid and being so gentle with him. I think that really in my heart I just wanted to grab the kid and go back to the sanctuary so I could worship, so I jump in.  I'm pretty sure I was thinking I could change his attitude and waltz back into the sanctuary a hero. ARGH, My heart is so ugly at times!  My coaxing didn't work, it just worked up the kid even more.

In that moment I heard God speak. He said "Pray."  I, like so many of us at so many times, knew that is was just that easy, but why is it so hard? So, mid sentence, I stop talking and start praying. I told the kid that I was just going to pray because I believed in a God who could change hearts. Nich started talking to him and I saw his heart soften, then I started talking to him and I look up and see Nich Praying. It was a beautiful testimony of prayer to see the kids heart changing before our eyes. God was answering our prayers.

We talked about the word of God, The Cross, Worship, Repentance, the body of Christ… We talked about Ephesians 1:4-5 (which I had on a card in my pocket), about Adoption as sons and how God chose us. We dialoged with the kid for a while, and he was engaged in what we were saying, asking questions, telling us things he didn't understand and asking about them…. It was sweet.  Before I knew it we were back in the sanctuary and the sermon was ending. We tried to get seats, but couldn't. So we walked down front to the only space we could find, right down near the speakers on the main floor.

As we are standing there we watched dozens of people come up and get on their knees at the carpets, then they would get up and take communion.  The kid looks at me and asks what they are doing.

I realized in that moment what God was doing. He had orchestrated all of this just for this one Kid, one whom he loved and wanted to save. (He was also doing a crazy work on my heart, and on Nich's heart too.)

God had perfectly ordained our previous conversation. I reminded the kid of all we talked about. We talked about the cross, being a part of the family of God, repentance and God choosing us and stirring our hearts for His.  He said he wanted communion. I shared the meaning again and then told him after worship he could have all the juice and crackers he wanted if that was all he wanted.  He said, No, I want to take communion for real.

We got on our knees, we prayed for a while. He repented, we worshiped, I cried. We went and took communion together. It was beautiful to see God stirring in his heart. It was amazing to see salvation take place.


It was one of those moments we have to "Smile and Remember You Are Loved". God has a purpose that is much greater then we could ever imagine. He wants to use each of us. And he orchestrates things together beyond our human comprehension.  Surrender and allow the Spirit of God to move.