Welcome to LA

01/05/11

Matthew 15

Jesus told them to go ahead of him. He dismissed the 5000 people that he just fed with 2 loaves and 3 fish. He just did that. He showed how powerful and miraculous that he is...in front of the disciples. They witnessed it. They watched it. They saw it all. And here they are, on the boat, they see a figure walking toward them on the water. It must be a ghost, they say. And the voice of the Lord calls out to them, “Do not be afraid, it is I.” Peter walks on the water toward Jesus and the storms start to come and fear takes over him. He begins to sink. Fear knocks him down.

After witnessing a miracle, Peter falls. He falls from fear. He is overtaken by fear and he is down. He saw the Lord do incredible things, not once, not twice, but many times. And even so, he loses faith in the Lord. It is such a human reaction. We see God do so many things in our lives. We see him work in us, we see miracles, we feel the Spirit of the Lord upon us and yet we fall from fear all the time. We allow fear to over take our lives and hurt the faith that we have in the Lord.

As I read through this, I think about the other day as we were driving out here to California. While we were driving, we were almost on empty. We were in the middle of the desert and the GPS said that the closest gas station was about 20 miles away. Fear started to fill the car, but I could only have faith. We serve a mighty God who can do anything. I have seen him do miracles. I have seen him change lives. I have seen him work and why would I doubt him in such a time? As we drove, I started to pray...not out of fear, but out of faith. I started to pray that God would bring us upon a gas station. I was praying that he would lead us in the right path. That he would provide. I knew that God had our back and that he was going to keep us safe.

This is just one of the many times that I have encountered faith and fear, however. To be completely and totally honest, faith is not always the winner. In fact, faith is less likely way too often. It has become easier for me to let fear take over. When living in fear, I do not have to worry about being tried or tested. I do not have to worry about being stretched and pushed. It is easier, I just get to complain and whine and do nothing about it. However, I have learned that faith is so much better. It is so much more fulfilling. It is so much more satisfying. It feeds our hunger in ways that nothing else can. Faith is such a beautiful thing. With faith, we can do all things, who wouldn’t want that?

LA

He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce
that the captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.
He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s
favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against the enemies.

Psalm 61

I love this city with all that I have. I am so glad to be back here and among the people that I love so much. I am glad to be back in the things that I am so familiar with. I am glad to be here and learning more about what God is doing. I am glad to be among those who really understand me and love me so much.

As we are here in LA and especially in the World Impact area, I cannot help but to think of Psalm 61. The city of LA has gone through so many trials. People here are hurting and they are brokenhearted. They are at a point in their lives where they live in anger and they live in pain. They see the past and cannot forgive what has happened among them.

Gangs versus gangs, races versus races, people versus people. There is so much here. There are so many people. There are so many past problems that haven’t been dealt with. There is so much pain and so much sorrow from not letting go. There is so much reconciliation that needs to be done in such a big pain. There is so much hunger for God in this place because it is so dark and it is in so much pain.

And that is what is beautiful about this city. He has sent people here to heal the broken hearted. He has sent people to work with the people of LA. He has sent people to love and to care about the people of LA. I got to see my friend Megan last night and she is one person who I see loving these people in LA. She is a person who really loves the kids of Kaleo and it is beautiful. I have seen partial fruits of her work in the students that she works with and it is so amazing. The missionaries and interns in World Impact really love this place and it is obvious. Keely loves her students at LACS and talks about them as she does love them. She pours into them in so many ways. She loves them and cares for them and pushes them. She does not let different things bring her down. She does not let their lives let her become hopeless. It is actually the opposite, she finds so much hope in the hopelessness. And as I see the other missionaries, I see that this is true as well.

This city is beautiful.The people are beautiful.God is working.He is here.He is big. He’s got this.He is sending people out.
It is amazing.