Eyes To See

The other day, I found myself in a rather uncomfortable situation. MLH and I were in a meeting with some believers who have started a service organization. Some months ago, I had been invited to “help” with this group. I went, albeit tentatively. You see, when I show up, people think two things:

(1) Oh, yeah! Janie’s here! She can help us raise money! And…
(2) Oh, yeah! Janie’s here! She’s a great organizer and promoter, she’s got a great reputation! She can help us bring people into our organization (which often translates to money.)

This meeting was no different than others in that respect. Matter of fact, they even spoke aloud, in almost the same words, the (2) sentence above.

The gifts of God are without repentance, and I know that. I know that the Lord has blessed me greatly. And I’m learning that to make my yes, a yes. I’m also focusing on the more difficult thing, to know when to say no, and when to say yes. It’s been a hard lesson for me, but that’s how it is. Just because I choose to take on a certain cause, whatever “it” is, doesn’t necessarily mean that God will bless my work in that cause, or that the cause will thrive. And I confess I’ve gone before the Lord many times, and taken something on that the timing wasn’t right, or something else was wrong. Instead, I should have waited on Him. So, I’ve learned a lot. And, I’m still learning.

Anyway, back to the meeting. The leadership of the group was talking about how to reach others for Christ, grow the chapter, and raise money, in order to further reach people. And almost as one, they looked at me, and one guy reaffirmed my gifting detailed above. Talk about pressure.

I took a breath, and asked for permission to speak, and was granted such.

To begin, I reiterated their recent words, illustrating, in my perception, how they saw me. I then encouraged them to open their spiritual eyes – and endeavor to see people after the Spirit, and not by the flesh. In seeing after the Spirit, I believe we will all be more open to the opportunities to love on people. I share my belief with this group – that this meeting, the very idea of it, is a great thing. I believe a meeting of believers should be a place of refreshing, and encouragement – a place of respite, as it were, especially in this specific organization. And that if we love on people, they will come. They will want to be a part of this organization.

In ending my turn to talk, I spoke of that one thing – loving people. If I were going to categorize the way that MLH and I walk, I would probably say that we do it rather organically. We don’t follow a prescribed method, pass out tracts, etc. Actually, it’s probably rare, though not by design, that we speak the name of the Lord before others, yet we believe. It's our desire His will become manifest in our lives. We hang out at shoots, events, industry happenings, conferences, hunts and work. We meet people where they are. We strive to see and sense the Lord’s will in any situation that might present itself, seen or unseen. Mostly, we just love on people, wherever we are. That’s who we are, and what we do. And it’s our hope that those people smell the very fragrance of Christ and are drawn unto Him. That’s our hope.

Okay, rant over, and I think (heh) I just preached to myself. Maybe I needed a reminder.

Thanks for letting me breathe.