Little details

OK, I may sound like I'm pulling myself up by my bootstraps; I probably am. But the thing is, if I can not trust the Lord in the little details of life, like bills and money and a place to live - how could I trust him with the big things - with lives that need to be changed, with eternal souls to be saved, with winning this corner of the world for Christ? And the thing is, the big, important things are happening.

If you haven't guessed, this is my Monday high. We had 38 people in church yesterday - not a lot by most people's standard, but when half of them are not saved yet, it really sounds like victory to me! Eileen was there last night - I was so thrilled to see her! A few years ago she gave up on church - but now, after losing her husband, her son and her grandson, she is willing to give it another try. All we did was show her a little love - there is so much more where that came from! There are a lot of lonely, hurting people all around us - and we who follow Jesus have been connected to an infinite ocean of love: the heart of God! People may not accept theology and sermons and "church" - but give them open, genuine, disinterested, vulnerable love - and they are suddenly open wide.
Two people asked if I can visit them to talk about them joining the church. A third one said he is thinking about it too. A lady wants to talk about being baptised. There is this teenage guy who's waiting for baptism too. A father of 6, who is really struggling to keep his family together, opened up a lot this week and allowed me a peek into his struggle and pain. I KNOW the Lord is working there - there is a lot of pain, but with our Daddy, there is a lot of hope too. And I haven't even started to visit people in the community - what's that going to be like?

"The gates of hell shall not prevail against [my church]" - that's what Jesus promised. Gates of hell? What gates? We belong to the One who smashed them to pieced long ago - we're just here receiving the freed captives, and guiding the ones trying to find the way out. Yeah, sure, there might be a fiery arrow here and there, a few threats shouted by the enemy - a few reminders that there is a battle raging even though we are the victors - but when the prize is eternity for every one of these dear ones, who cares for the little details?