Corralled by God's Love

I had a young couple come to my office today for an application for financial assistance. They didn't come across as people who lived a lifestyle of financial dependence. As we began to talk they revealed a sequence of events that brought them to this crisis. The future is beginning to look a little brighter but the challenges of the past three months brought them to this humbling encounter with the church.

I prayed with them and reminded them that money was a minor thing to God. He can often use it to cause us to look up, look in, and look around. It was like blinders were removed from their eyes! Seriously! They said they no longer cared what the church was able to do for them financially. They were no longer focused on the electric being turned off, the eviction notice and the other personal challenges they were facing. They said, "We would have come here to hear this even if we didn't have these problems." (The question is: Would they have?) They left encouraged and committed to making Christ central to their lives, marriage, work, and life.

God corrals us like wild mustangs into the narrowness of hardship in order to draw us closer to Him. Our peace, joy and hope are found in God's ever-present, caring love for us. It is always there, but sometimes it gets out of focus because we have chosen to focus on the hardship.

What are you focusing on today?