I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday and he was marveling at the fact that his wife actually saw something in him that made her want to marry him. He’d risen to the very top of the world but fallen like a meteor to the utter bottom. She didn’t know him when he was flying high; she met him when he was buried 3 feet beneath the barrel.
He told me that many people wanted to be around him when he was mega rich, running with the rich and famous, and everything he touched turned to gold, but when he lost everything due primarily to a decadent, Godless, hedonistic lifestyle, his supposed friends disappeared like cockroaches heading for holes in the wall when the lights are turned on.
When she met him he was broke, a “stoner”, had a bad reputation, was far from God, and had little more than memories of what once was the “good life”. She on the other hand was a good girl, someone who loved the Lord with all her heart; she was successful in her career, beautiful, and a very nice person.
All her friends told her to stay far away from him, but she saw something in him that others couldn’t see. So what did she see in my friend? She saw the same thing that God sees in us; He sees us not as we currently are, rather what we could be with Jesus Christ in our lives. She didn’t give up on my friend and somehow successfully introduced him to Jesus and He turned his life around to the point that today he is a fulltime evangelist with a powerful message. He’s written several books and loves the Lord with all his heart.
When I was working on the Renewal of America Forum for the Jesus Alliance I talked daily with folks all over the world. Several have confided in me that they are hoping for the best but think it’s too late to return America to “one nation under God” and that it will never wake up and be what it once was ever again. Some pointed to the Grammy Awards, homosexual weddings, pornographic vulgar performances, foul language being broadcast to young people all over the world; imagine how it has to make God feel to look upon it.
I wonder if He looks upon those folks as they are? Or does He look upon them as they could be? Hmmm . . .
Don’t underestimate the power of God to transform lives. “Now glory be to God, by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of — infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” Ephesians 3:20. Don’t lose the faith and instead pray for our nation. Have faith and believe God, (literally take Him at His word) that it’s never too late to turn to God. Do your part . . . You have resources; use them to full advantage before it’s too late in this dangerous world . . .
Phil. 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”