Aching Souls Need Jesus
“Come now, let us argue this out,” says the LORD. ‘No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool. If you will only obey me and let me help you, then you will have plenty to eat. But if you keep turning away and refusing to listen, you will be destroyed by your enemies. I, the LORD, have spoken!” -- Isaiah 1:18-20
A young woman I know is going through a really tough season in her life. She is about to become an unwed mother -- again. She and her boyfriend have an unstable relationship. And her mother was just diagnosed with a horrible disease that likely will take her life.
She is floundering in a sea of sin and uncertainty. She asked why God was mad at her. Because, you see, she doesn’t know Jesus. She believes in God. And she believes in Jesus. But she doesn’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. And she doesn’t know God as loving Father.
What she knows is that her life isn’t working out like she’d planned. She smiles. She pretends. And inside she’s scared to death. Her mother is her anchor. What will happen as this disease progresses? What will happen when her mother dies? How will this young woman face a harsh world without her anchor?
Well, she may one day face her life without her mother’s guidance but she doesn’t have to face it without an anchor. God wants to be her anchor. He wants to be her rock. He wants to carry her when life seems overwhelming and she’s afraid to think about tomorrow.
She knows her life isn’t quite right. She knows that. Not because I’ve told her, because I haven’t. I don’t know that anyone else has either. She knows because she’s unhappy and unsettled. She wants her life to change. She wants to change. But how does she do that? She isn’t sure.
Some of us are talking with her. It’s a fine line. We don’t want to force her but we know that true freedom and security can only come from knowing Jesus in her heart. Jesus can cleanse her life. He can lead her to a different life, a life filled with His blessings and His peace. But she has to make the first move. She has to invite Him in.
I don’t know what the future holds for this young woman. I can see her changing, becoming more open to church and to Jesus. I pray that she’ll reach out to Him. She needs Him and I think she’s starting to realize that.
I look around sometimes and see a world that is hurting. Hearts are breaking. People are floundering and unsure where to turn. It can seem overwhelming until you focus on the one person God put in your life. And then the next. And the next. One by one do what you can and trust God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
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