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A lot of times, people get hurt by others, but the offender isn’t actually being malicious. Too often, this results in the injured party quickly and permanently breaking ties with the person who hurt them without ever getting to the heart of the matter and finding out what really happened.
Sadly, this actual event too often happens within the church – people are hurt and never get to the bottom of the issue and fix what all went wrong.
Instead, we need to do all that we can to offer an opportunity for peace to come between all of us. Don’t let pride or ignorance come in the way of peaceful friendships and relationships.
Now, sometimes this process requires an intermediary to work between the two people and some of us are called to stand in that gap.
Likewise, some of us are called to stand up for social injustices around the world and domestically, for righting the world’s wrongs and bringing about safe havens for the world’s oppressed. However, not all of us are called to fight for these causes – but we are all called to do SOMETHING. The trick is to recognize the opportunities that come our way and act on them.
For some, this may mean to simply lay a merciful hand on the shoulder of someone who is hurting. For others, this may mean traveling the globe fighting righteous battles for those who can’t fight for themselves.
The key is for each of us to learn how to hear and understand what part God wants you to play in regards to the world’s problems.
You can only do this by acting like a sheep – spend time with the Good Shepherd, seek after Him and His will, walk simply in the direction He leads; and over time, you will learn to hear Him more acutely than someone who is simply picking up a book (i.e., the Bible) for the first time and merely reading words on a page.
In addition to learning where in the world and how in the world we each need to serve, we need to be training up younger people to do likewise; and younger people need to recognize the wisdom of those who have already spent time in the trenches (which obviously insinuates that us older guys have got to get our butts in the trenches at some point).
And we need to not be afraid to stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zones and discover how we can be used in new ways.
So what role are you called to play in this great big world of ours?