Relieved and Excited

Relieved and Excited

Acts 12: ¹¹ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

¹² So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. ¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”

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“At least it’s not raining anymore” I said to the other long-faced campers. Moments later, the van rolled back to the campsite with the injured child all bandaged up. They had been gone for hours. I was relieved that the person was alright. I was more relieved to have our leader back. I mean we couldn’t do anything without him and we were bored!

• When the trial is over, I get relieved.
• When the trial is over, I get excited.
• When the trial is over, I want to tell everyone.

Rhoda answered the door, heard Peter’s voice and became so excited that she forgot to open the door. Everyone at the house was mourning the death or Mary’s son, James brother of John. It seemed like the little excitement of seeing the power of the HOLY SPIRIT was lost. But Peter arrived under impossible odds. The excitement grew.

• GOD wants me to seek HIM in the middle of mourning.
• GOD wants me to seek HIM in the middle of the trial.
• GOD wants me to seek HIM in the middle of the pain.

It is not easy to praise GOD when it seems like all is lost. I mean, just when I start living my life for GOD, it seems like more problems occur. GOD knows the persecution will increase when I give my life to HIM. BUT GOD does provide relief and excitement that keeps me going. Some things cannot be fixed, but I put my trust in GOD to use them for HIS good.

• Are you in mourning?
• Does it seem like all is lost?
• Will you understand that it is alright to be in mourning and GOD loves you even though it may be difficult to hear that right now?

Dear LORD, please heal those hurting right now. Bless them with peace that only comes from you. amen

Okay Do That

Matthew 25: ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

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“What will I say?”, “What shall I do?” were the questions that ran through my mind as I went out on my first mission’s trip. After riding for a long time I calmed down but when I got off the bus I felt a bit overwhelmed.  I mean there were people there who only possessed the clothes on their backs. I didn’t know what to do.

• Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the problems of the world.
• Sometimes I want someone else to handle the problem of poverty and loneliness.
• Sometimes I don’t want to know that someone else is hurting because I need a vacation.

Thinking about someone else who had more problems than me was the first hurdle. I mean I had enough problems to have a missionary sent to me. Besides, what was I supposed to “do” when I encountered this person? I was not a billionaire so I couldn’t house and feed everyone. “Maybe the rich should do this!” I thought brazenly to myself!

• JESUS says to me “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for ME.”
• JESUS says to me “It does not matter what you do as long as you are serving those in need.”
• JESUS says to me “Start somewhere because anything you do for those in need, you do it for ME.”

I only had handshakes, hugs and prayers to give to the people. I sat with several and listened to them and prayed with them. We laughed a while and I encouraged a few. When I went back two years later I ran into one person who remembered me but I did not remember him.

“You encouraged me!” he said. “Now I am a pastor reaching out to others. I was excited and overwhelmed again as the words popped into my head “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.”

• Are you too overwhelmed with your own problems to help someone?
• Do you feel like you have nothing to offer someone because you too are broke, hurt and lonely?
• Can you ask GOD to be sent to the right person so you can encourage them today?