By Allen Rothering
As I was praying this morning for the people of Texas and the massive flooding that is going on, I got caught up in the emotional pain of it all. I began thinking about what It would be like to be a dad with a family trapped in his own home. Of having the flood waters gobbled up all my possessions, and now threatening my families lives. No food, no electricity, no heat and no escape. To realize that everything you have worked all of your life for is gone, and your desires have been reduced to survival. . . What a radical and hopeless change in perspective that would bring!
While I was feeling all of these emotions flooding into my heart, Holy Spirit reminded me how similar I felt, and more so, when Jesus rescued me. . . I was an awful person and, no matter how hard I tried, I could not fix myself. I remember coming to the realization that I was desperately wicked and lost. And that after a million attempts to change my situation, I finally discovered that I could not. I was without hope and destined for a shame filled death.
It occurred to me that every single Christ Follower was in that same place of realizing that they were lost without hope and completely incapable of escaping their own shameful death. And every Christ Follower had to come to this realization, and then cry out to God for help – putting our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and experience a personal rescue from death to life. We were not only rescued, but we were given the Spirit of God in us, the Bible as Gods written Word and a volunteer safety vest so that we could get back out into this world and help save others!
When we can go back in our hearts to our day of rescue, and remember what God has done for us, it has power to give us strength, boldness, compassion and purpose.
In the midst of all the division and hatred we have been seeing on the news outlets, it has been such an incredible blessing to see hundreds of people stop what they are doing, load up their boats, fill their vehicles with supplies and head into the dangerous waters to rescue our neighbors! Watching this has literally restored my faith in humanity.
As you and I continue to pray for the people of Texas and send provision and hope, I ask you to remember your own personal rescue. Let that motivate you to put on your heavenly safety vest, get out into your day and share the love and light of Jesus with those around you with compassion and boldness. Sometimes this looks like loading up your boat and going to Texas to rescue people from a flood. And sometimes it is walking to the cubicle next to you and speaking a word of encouragement. What a privilege it is to be rescued and enabled to rescue others. I am excited to lock arms with you guys in the name of Jesus and step into this day with a presence minded purpose!
