From time to time, friends will ask me to pray they can get a new job or find a better place to live.
When I ask them why, they’ll say it’s because they’re the only Christian in their office, team or neighborhood. “It’s hard being the only Christian,” they’ll tell me. “Pray I can find a place where I’m not the only Christian.”
Then, I’ll ask them, “Is it possible Jesus has sent you to where you are to reach those people around you?”
Is it possible that working with non-believers and living in the same neighborhoods as non-believers is exactly where Jesus wants you to be?
Following Jesus is hard for at least two reasons. First, Jesus makes some pretty tough ethical demands on His followers. Loving your enemies is not for the faint of heart.
The second reason is once you've chosen to follow Jesus, He takes you to some pretty tough places.
He was sent to the sick and lost, remember?
The gospel begins with the bad news that sin has broken our world and everybody in it.
The good news is Christ has come to redeem us and our world.
We are on that mission with Him – to the lost, wounded, broken, confused, angry, bitter, poor, and sick.
Sometimes, these places are just tough places to be but these are the places where the love of Christ is needed most.
So, look around. Do you find yourself in the middle of a mess?
Good news. That may be exactly where Jesus wants you to be.
