Good News?
Jesus is good news for the sexually broken. As a mere member of His, deeply flawed, I fall short. I guess that explains the title of our upcoming 40-days of prayer: ‘Becoming Good News’. We begin by admitting limited love for difficult beloved ones then seek to become more apt representatives of Jesus for them. Our prayer? ‘Jesus, make us more like Yourself toward _____’
Annette and I got hammered yesterday by a series of tough things. We both experienced a kind of wearisome dullness that deflected the light of Jesus rather than catching and beaming it all around. As I walked past the home of my ‘gay’-identified neighbor, I felt the Spirit’s prompting to knock once more, hear his travails (many), and give some Spirit-tuned encouragement. I resisted the prompt. Self-absorbed, I gave the enemy what he wanted by agreeing with the familiar: ‘I am a mess, say nothing, do nothing, the gap is too wide, the bridge too far, etc.’ Start the revival without me.
Thank God for holy conviction. I live by these words of St. Faustina: ‘The knowledge of my misery frees me to know the immensity of Your mercy.’ No value in denying the soul cast down or in musing upon one’s well-deserved melancholy. How much better to offer up the troubled soul to Jesus who always waits for the chance just to love us? We can surrender the misery in exchange for tender affection; He transforms a spirit of heaviness into something grateful, humbled, fragrant in its brokenness rather than self-consumed and piteous. Lord, consume us with Your mercies, well-aimed at our fears and frustrations!
In the rising, my heart is sensitized to that neighbor. If we the faithful can be slowed, even stopped, by our disordered world, how much more difficult is it for estranged ones who get tossed about by every torment? We can offer our little trials to Jesus on their behalf; He will mercifully expand the constrained domain of our hearts. ‘Enlarge the place of your tent!’ commands the prophet. Jesus’ mercy makes it so; we discover there is more room at the inn.
Let’s pray together to become good news, that hardships might produce a spirit of hospitality for rebel sons and daughters. Perhaps they secretly long for a homecoming. Let’s become better news for them, beginning on October 16th. Order the 40-day prayer guide ‘Becoming Good News’ from Amazon or DSM.
You can purchase “Becoming Good News” in book form directly from Desert Stream or get it from Amazon for your Kindle.
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