Tackling the Big Stuff
God’s beloved children, the orphans in our world, have been our outreach focus this month.
Psalm 10:14b …to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
The expansive heart of the Lord is vast. It can be tough to emulate the depth and breadth of His care. Knowing that His heart is not strapped by the devastating needs of the world helps me not to be overwhelmed. But it does drive me to pray.
Prayer is the best way I know to tackle the big stuff. The enormous needs of so many are more than my mind and heart can grasp. I often feel powerless, but I don’t want to become numb to these needs.
It is in prayer that I can exercise the power of the Spirit—the very power of the resurrection— entrusted to me as a believer. I can ask the God of Heaven to work His will on earth.
The only way to mirror the Lord’s expansive heart—a heart that faces the hurts and heartaches in this world and is never overwhelmed—is to first invite the Spirit’s work in my own heart and in my own needs.
Then as people who are convinced of His great care for us, we are invited, compelled even, to join Him in that miraculous work of caring for others, most especially the least of these.
In my small group we’ve talked about the difficulty in spotting such folks in the insulated experience of our day to day routines. Sometimes it does take the intentional move on our part to step towards these people and their experiences. Sometimes we need to choose to submit ourselves to their stories, their heartaches, and their pain. We can take a step closer to their
experiences by hearing from friends who have seen and know how God is working among them. And this can show us how to pray and believe for more.
We have a chance to do just that this Tues., May 29 at 7:30 -8:45 pm. To make room for all the awesome folks who will be at the newcomer’s dinner, our weekly prayer meeting will be held at Liz & Simon’s house, 4318 39th st N, arlington VA 22207. More info liz@restorationarlington.org
- Liz will share about God’s care for the orphans in Myanmar, and then
- We’ll pray for the needs of orphans around the world and
- Explore how our own hearts can expand in prayer and praise.
Hope you can join us!
Erica Chapman
