First Place

"You matter."

The beauty of faith-filled people encompasses me.
They are true, and my heart is thrilled beyond measure. (Psalm 16:3 VOICE)

I WANT TO move beyond liking people to being delighted in them. This Psalm, one of my favorites from the VOICE translation, says this so well. I don't want to tolerate people, but I want to look for them, to see their face and be overwhelmed by how much they matter.

This is the way Jesus feels. I challenged my dad to go in the grocery store near his house and just notice the people. No place I go regularly has more faces that need God’s love than that store. Just yesterday, I passed a dozen who replay in my mind, and the feelings return, that tug of the Spirit to pray for them.

Years ago, I realized some people never get prayer. No one ever prays for them. This is heartbreaking to me. That no one has seen them and stopped to lift their need to the throne.

“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;” (1 Timothy 2:1)

Jesus died for sinners and publicans while the "church" made fun of Him for it. Those who were supposed to steward the presence of God on behalf of the people thought only of themselves. They even rushed to condemn Him so they could make it back for the Passover (John 18:28). Jesus is the Passover.

How blind can we be? That we are satisfied with our anger. That we are unwilling to “see” him or her unless they do that thing for us again. Am I the only one dissatisfied with those kind of thought patterns? Should I be like the world, more concerned with self-protection instead of being like Jesus who gave up everything He had? I'm actually unhappy when I react in anger. I want to change.

The pulpit is a place to serve the people. The words we speak must be the Spirit's and I have news, He will never speak what people can't grasp. That's us, in our selfishness, doing what we want to hear. When I wrote fiction set in history, I read far more about that time period than what I included in the story. I wanted to go below the surface, past the easy stuff into what made that man or woman who they were.

Our heavenly Father knows all the pieces of us that no one else does. This comforts me where it may make others self-conscious. I like that I don't have to explain things to Him about me. But more and more it also challenges me to love better. To care more deeply and pray without ceasing. Because my Savior died for the broken, the sick and the needy, not the overstuffed imitations of personal pride, whatever title they have.

The Spirit said it to me this way. He had me turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4 and read, "God is patient. God is kind." And I couldn't reply. For that's the reason why I keep going. He challenges me to come up higher, to forgive greater, and never settle for loving you as second best.

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com