He is Here
March 2010 has been a month that I will never forget.
It’s my alter. It’s what I will look back at when I feel discouraged. Beat Down. That God could never use a sinner like me.
It’s what I will use to remind myself that “God is Here.”
When the Devil tries to get me, this is what will defeat him.
I don’t even know where to begin. God placed us in the right spot, at the right time to literally save a two year olds life. God placed us in the right spot, at the right time to save a young woman from being beaten. God placed us in the right spot, at the right time to see five souls saved for eternity. God placed us in the right spot, at the right time to be the only light of Jesus at a skatepark in the middle of a street knife fight. I guess I’ll start there…
“UTF” A skatepark run by darkness. Drug deals every minute. Starving kids. Blood spilled. Deviant and perverse life styles everywhere. Hatred. Theft. Injustice. Bitterness. Lust. Fear. Lies. Doubt. Darkness. All in need of Jesus.
We go there every week. It is a place that God placed on my heart literally one of the first weeks I moved to Spokane. But I have just begun to act on that leading for the past 8 months now. I’ve come to realize that when God calls you, you have to Go! Whatever it is, Wherever it is, He needs you to be there for a reason! So on the 20th of March we went down there, expecting a typical day – Handing out Socks, Jackets, Food to those in need – God had other plans.
Two guys who we had never seen before started walking through the skate park, asking everyone and anyone if the had bud (street name for weed). We see them walking our way, as were talking to some of the guys down there. (Keeping in mind that this skatepark is definitely known as a place to get drugs easily) Everyone says no to them. They walk up to us and the guys we are talking to and they completely look right past us, Don’t even acknowledge us. They ask the guys were talking with but they say no. So they carry on and ask another guy and instantly an argument broke out. Before we knew it, all the guys from the skatepark were surround these two guys. Knives and daggers drawn. Cuss words flying out of everyones mouth and the spirit of fear was so deep in the eyes of everyone there.
At that moment, we knew we were there for a reason. We couldn’t just leave. We couldn’t just abandon these guys when things got tough, just like everyone else has done their whole lives. We couldn’t just leave. We were the only light down there. We began to pray.
The two guy’s in the center were threatening that they had a gun and they were holding their pants like they had a gun on them. One guy who we knew turned around and told us to call the Cops. I did, and within a matter of no more than two minutes they were down there, both guys arrested and in the back of the cop cars. Not a single person hurt. Not a single person injured. Immediately following this all the guys came over to us and we began to talk with them. (There is a program at our church, like a lot of churches, called missionettes. There is an age group of girls called “Prims” within the missionettes. The week prior to this they had drawn on the lunch sacks with phrases like “Jesus loves you” or “God loves you.” These are the lunch sacks that we had used to put the lunches in for them that week.) Pami, a lady who comes down there with us says to them, “You know why you were saved today, You know why nobody got hurt? Because of these lunches! Look at them, It’s because Jesus loves you!” Right when she said that I looked down at the left over lunches in my hand and the only one facing me says, “God is Here.” “God is Here” I thought, “Yes! God is Here! Praise the Lord God is Here! Thank you Jesus for being two steps in front of us! For being right beside us! For being Here! You are always Here!”
The sunday following that, we were telling this story to the Prims leaders. They said they looked through all the lunch bags before they gave them to us and never saw a bag that says, “God is Here.”
Looking back on this story, It doesnt matter if God used a little girl to write that on a bag or if God Himself wrote on that bag-All that matters is that it was written in truth. God was there. He is HERE! I also believe God made us invisible to those two guys. I believe they looked right past us because they didn’t even see us. They asked everyone in that skatepark for drugs. They ask little 12 year olds. They asked homeless people. They acknowledged everyone under there besides us. Thank you Lord for not only your protection, but for you’re boldness in our lives and for being there. For being Here. Mark Batterson puts it so perfectly that I’m just going to quote Him.
“Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are half-christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions. There is an old aphorism: “no guts, no glory.” When we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. Is anybody else tired of reactive Christianity that is more known for what it’s against than what it’s for? We’ve become far too defensive. We’ve become far to passive. Lion chasers are proactive. They know that playing it safe is risky. Lion chasers are always on the lookout for God-ordained opportunities. But those God-given opportunities often come disguised as man eating lions. And how we react when we encounter those lions will determine our destiny. We can cower in fear and run away from our greatest challenges. Or we can chase out God-ordained destiny by seizing the God-ordained opportunity.
Maybe we’ve measured spiritual maturity the wrong way. Maybe following Christ isn’t suppose to be as safe or as civilized as we’ve been led to believe. Maybe Christ was more dangerous and uncivilized than our Sunday-school flannelgraphs portrayed. Maybe God is raising up a generation of lion chasers. …Lion chasers don’t let their fear or doubts keep them from doing what God has called them to do.”
I’ve been debating wether or not to share this. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to shout it from the roof tops how good God is. But at the same time, you never know whose going to read it. Who’s going to let the fear get in their way of the God-ordained opportunity. Who’s going to not want to volunteer because it’s to uncertain. Who’s going to not want me to do it because of what may happen. But I want to be proactive. I want my life to mean something. I want to be a lion chaser. I want to fulfill my purpose here on earth. And by me saying that, I guess that means that I am going to do whatever God calls me to do, no matter what.
There will always be times of hardship. There will always be time of discouragment and the longing to just give up. There’s going to be fear. You’ll want to throw the towel in. But remember. “GOD IS HERE”. Remember the alters you have had through out your life. The places God saved you. The places God moved you. The places God used you. The places God called you. When He whispered your name. When He tugged your soul. Those are the things that will keep you going. Those are the things that will help you run, walk, even crawl….GOD IS HERE.
He is here. In this room. In your heart.
“He is near. Nearer than breath. Heartbeats.
Nearer than you are to you.
Nearer than second chance or next opportunity.
Closer than tonight or yesterday.
He is Real. Realer than touch.
See. Hear. Smell or Taste.
Realer than reality. He is our reality.
Realer than Joy. Pain. Sorrow.
Realer than the Love of being in Love.
He is present. Like time. Space. Wind. Silence. Night.
He is waiting. Like Creation.
Like words on the tip of toung. Like songs that have yet to be sung.
He is Beauty. Oranges. Blues. Every Hue. Every shade.
Sunset and Sunrise. Whisper His Name.
He is Holy.
Different. Made Human. Became Human. Forgave Human.
He is Spirit.
He can not be touched. Explains like. Sweet seconds of prayers like. Grandmother on knees like. Wood floor Bare.
He is Son. Distinctly three. Distinctly one.
The only one. The only wise. The only resurrector of lives.
He is King.
No earthly throne can house. No amount of elegant words can espouse.
He is Moments and Voice. Power of Choice.
And Word. And Deed. And Fruits. And Seed.
Pierced Side. Nailed hands. Nailed feet. Innocent wounds that bleed.
He is Believe and Trust.
He is Enough.
He is All.
He is Call and Purpose. Everything we can sacrifice. He is worth it and more.
Much More. Our good deeds are mere pennies. We’ll never even the score.
He is Behold. And Wowed.
He is Who. What. When. How.
He Puts on the Show. He is the one we come to see.
He is Souls Cry and sinners plea. He is the epitome.
He is the One know one can light a candle to or come within a million foot pole of.
He is Above.
He is a Fathers Love.
He is maker of ways. Of Earth. Of Wind. Ancient of Days.
Has No Fear.
Have No Fear.
God is Here.”
-Spoken Word By Amena Brown
walkinginhisdust
