Here I am God! Send me!

In Luke 8, there is a story of a dad desperately asking Jesus to come and save his sick daughter.  Jesus agrees to come to the man’s house, but on the way there, messengers come to say that the girl has already died.

When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the little girl’s father and mother. The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said, “Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” – Luke 8:51-52

The story doesn’t tell us for sure what the father’s reaction was, only the crowd’s.  My guess from reading the rest of the passage is that the father’s faith somehow remained strong that everything would be ok.  He somehow believed that Jesus could still help his daughter.  He was right.

Could I have that same faith?  Too often, my initial reaction is to think people are beyond the reach of Jesus.  They are too far gone.  I see people as spiritually “dead” that God sees as only spiritually “asleep”.  I’m convinced that I can’t reach them.  And I’m right…I can’t.  But God can reach them, and He lets us help! 

Romans 10:14-15 is a great reminder that people can’t be saved if they don’t believe, that they can’t believe if they don’t hear, that they can’t hear if no one tells them, and that no one will tell them if no one is sent.

This is huge thing for me.  To go.  To be obedient.  To do what Jesus asks me to do in this specific area: to tell people about Him.  Not only with my lifestyle (which is important as well), but with my words.  To specifically, directly and lovingly tell people the Good News of Jesus Christ.  It has always been the most difficult thing in my spiritual life.  And it is one God has been pushing me to change for a while now.

So today is the day, not tomorrow.  Today’s the day I say what Isaiah said, “Here I am God.  Send me.”  I would covet your prayers in three areas:

1. a sharp memory and appreciation of how God saved me.
2. open eyes to see the lost as God sees them.
3. a new boldness to share my faith.

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