A few weeks ago, I had been struggling to really connect with God and feel at peace because my heart was broken. My heart was broken for those who don’t know Jesus, but even more so, my heart was broken for those people who knew Jesus, who had a personal relationship with him and now choose not to. My soul is heavy, my heart unsettled, and my mind confused.
My relationship with Jesus is the best thing to have ever happened to me, and it is so difficult for me to comprehend how someone could not want that. Maybe it’s because Jesus didn’t just save me spiritually, but he saved me emotionally and mentally too. Maybe it’s because when I accepted Christ I physically felt my chains break. Maybe it’s because God gave me grace where I didn’t deserve it and shed light into my darkest places. He showed me I don’t have to do it all alone, In fact, I wasn’t meant to (John 16:33). He hung on a tree and died for me. And the same is true for you. He paid the perfect sacrificial price. He took on the darkness; He took on the sin of the world, because He knew that we owed a debt that we could not pay alone. He is a God who is compassionate and kind; fair and just; in all and above all; loving and considerate; all knowing and powerful; mighty in every way (and so much more). He deeply cares about you and about me. He wants to know the desires of your heart. He wants to know you deeply and personally. However, the bottom line is we make the decision whether we want to let Him in or not. We make the decision to believe; to place our faith in Jesus; to live a life worthy of the gospel; to let his Word that gives life transform us. Your faith and belief is something you know and feel in your heart and soul. It needs to be personal and it needs to be your own.
I know a few people whose beliefs have changed. Maybe their beliefs were based on how they were raised, maybe they were hurt by the church, maybe their beliefs were what they thought was expected of them, or maybe there was even some changing circumstances that led to their wandering. I am not them, so I can’t truly say, but for whatever reason something shifted and now they aren’t really sure what they believe, or they don’t even believe in Jesus at all anymore. So, as Christians how do we love them? How do we be the hands and feet of Jesus to them? How do we be the light in the darkness? These are all questions that I asked myself as my heart broke for those around me and I tried to figure out how to move forward.
I remember praying for my heavy and unsettled heart. As I was praying and crying out to God, He spoke to me in a quiet soft voice, “It is not your job to save them, it is Mine”. In that moment it shook me. It is not my responsibility to save them. Jesus did not die on a cross so that I would save them; He died on a cross so that He could save them. As it is written, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the Earth” (Acts 13:47). It is our job to make His name known; to share the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20); to be the hands and feet of Jesus (Ephesians 4:24; 29-32); to not judge (Matthew 7:1-2), but to love others as they are and where they are. It is through those acts that we can bring salvation, but it is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that does the actual saving.
Jesus loved sinners; those that believed in Him and those that didn’t. He prayed for them. He did life with them. He showed them a kind of light and love that the world had never seen before. Some believed in Him and some worshiped Him. Some were skeptical of Him. Some loved Him and some hated him. Some mocked Him and some betrayed Him; but still He loved them all. Regardless of their sin, regardless of how they treated Him or what they said about Him; He loved them with the most radical and steadfast love to ever exist. He saw them and said, “Come as you are!”. He says that now to us all. What better way to show others who Jesus is than by following by his example of prayer, love, kindness, compassion, and grace?
When I realized this, I felt freed. Freed from the weight that someone’s salvation depended on me and me alone. I also felt encouraged; encouraged because I no longer felt useless, but felt hopeful because God showed me how I could be helpful. Just because my friends who wandered away from Jesus weren’t actively seeking Him, didn’t mean that all hope was gone. After all, my God IS the God of miracles. He is a God who doesn’t give up. He is a God who pursues our hearts time after time, regardless if we are willing to receive Him or not. He is a God who pursues us even when we aren’t pursuing Him! He is the Light in the darkness and He calls us to be the same. Ephesians 5:8 states that we were once living in the darkness, but now we are to live as children of light! If we can focus on shining our light to those walking in the darkness, maybe, just maybe, they will be reminded of the thing they walked away from in the first place–a relationship with the Giver of peace, love, hope, and life!
Friends, whatever it is that you are going through, whether it’s a wandering heart, a loss of a family member, uncertainty of what you believe, trying to mend a broken heart, or a number of other things that can trouble us and make us grow weary, remember that He loves you and sees your aching heart, all you need to do is seek His everlasting, all powerful, Light.