Born A Rolling Stone

“Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak but He is strong.” 

I sang this song countless times as a child.  But last week, the last line was my theme.

A friend from church passed away suddenly 2 weeks ago.  And the last two weeks have been marked by a broken heart and spent in almost constant prayer for his precious wife and family.  Going about my normal activities was difficult with such a heavy heart.  But I managed.

Until it was time to head to Bourbon St. with Inward on Wednesday night. During the best of weeks, attempting to share the love of Christ with people in strip clubs is challenging.  But on a night when my heart and prayers had been focused elsewhere… I really did not think I would be useful at all.  I almost did not go.  

But feeling empowered by a new sense of urgency at the reminder of how short life is and how much hope we have in the promise of eternity with Christ, I went.  I let go of my fears and feeling of inadequacy, and I trusted that God would do the work.  And as usual, he did!  

We had several great conversations and made some good contacts. But one moment stands out boldly above the others.  In a club we rarely get into, my team had a beautiful opportunity to pray with C.  The second we told her why we were there, her guard was down.  ”I really needed this.”  She needed someone to remind her of her worth.  She just got out of jail. She just signed away custody of her five year-old son. Her “old man” beats her.  And we came to tell her that Jesus loves her.  We prayed with her and left her with our contact information.  We left praying that she would reach out and let us help her. 

There is no feeling greater than knowing you are exactly where God wants you.  My heart breaks at the thought that I almost missed the chance to experience that moment because I was scared.  I pray I never let fear stop me from carrying His hope to someone who desperately needs it.