There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus
So I'm not a big fan of Third Day in general, but these lyrics could not be more true of where I am in life at the moment. Last summer God opened my eyes to a lot of areas of His heart that I had never seen before, at least not in places in my very own city. These are places of injustice, poverty, and despair. Since the summer, while living in Glenwood, I've seen a lot of brokenness--broken homes, broken families, broken spirits. My heart has been moved for God's people, His dearly loved, who are living in poverty or who are homeless, who are dealers or prostitutes, who are children without a father and few positive role models, who are single moms overworking to care for several children.
At first I was flooded with compassion. Then, a very unfunny thing happened, maybe from seeing the brokenness everyday. Or quite possibly because I filled my life with so many other things so the despair would not be as apparent to me. But I began to grow numb to it all, or as I've heard it referred to, I was caught in the "urban trance." Numbness became apathy, and then a complete hard-heartedness followed, which I've found stems from my doubting that Jesus really does have a plan for the people in Glenwood.
But He does. And it's a plan of hope.
Jesus is our only hope. Even though it sometimes doesn't add up logically (I'm an over-analyzer), I know through both Scripture and experience that Jesus Christ equals hope. There's nothing else that will meet all needs and desires, nothing else that will bring deep joy and peace, no one else that can give a reason for living like the Lord. And although that sounds too good to be true, He offers that to my friends in my neighborhood and to me on a daily basis. He is the life-giver, and I believe His plans for the people of Glenwood--the helpless, the weary, the broken-hearted--are to hear their cries and provide them with hope and a future, working all things together for the good of those who love Him.
Lord, thank you for being Hope when things around us seem hopeless.
