He is Accessible

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Luke 4:18-19 NKJV

When was the last time that you slowed down to listen to someone’s story? I don’t mean a story about someone’s day to day chaos, what happened at the grocery store, or an odd encounter at the coffee shop. I mean the story of someone’s journey through life, or even more so, their heart story. 

Over the past few months, I have been humbled by the number of opportunities that God has given me to hear stories from the heart. Stories that have shaped and molded people into who they are today. Stories of mourning and stories of joy. Stories of struggle and of victory. Stories of the past that feed into the current and will flow into the future. And stories of individuals encountering Jesus, personally and intimately, and the story beyond that divine meeting and how it has impacted the life lived from that point on. 

Despite the exhilaration from the many action-packed stories of adventure that I have had the privilege to hear, out of all the stories that God allows me to tune my ears to, my favorites by far are the ones that involve that divine encounter with the Lord; the encounter that changes the rest of the plotline. Every time that I listen to someone recount the details of their path to Christ, their transformation through Christ, and their continued journey with Christ, I am simply left in awe of how He meets each of us so personally and so perfectly. Throughout every single story, and just the approach that God uses to each heart, there is abundant evidence that He does indeed know His children by name, and even more so, He knows us down to the smallest details of our being. He knows our needs. He knows our desires. And He knows exactly what it is that we need to see in Him that our eyes may be opened to Him as Lord of our lives. 

Every time that I walk away from listening to someone’s testimony, I can’t help but dwell in the goodness and the kindness of God. 

Last month, I made a visit to a country of which I had never been. As I spent some time with the people there, it quickly became clear that this was a hurting population. The challenges that these people faced was well beyond my comprehension. Resources were lacking regionally, adequate medical care was limited, poverty levels were extremely high and there were some very strong cultural beliefs that often resulted in great harm to people. Additionally, this particular culture did not care particularly well for the elderly making retirement nearly non-existent. From how this was explained to me, it sounded as though once one could no longer work, the end of their life could be near. 

The morning after hearing of these things, I woke up, grabbed my Bible, my journal, a pen, my must-have cup of coffee and made my way to a table outside to sit down with the Lord. I sat in silence for a few minutes, soaking in the fresh air, the new scenery, and the chirping of the birds. Then, one by one I began to hear some little voices coming from the next building over. They grew in abundance and noise until all of the sudden there were multiple kids outside running, playing, and screeching in the yard in front of me. Yet to crack open my Bible, I just sipped my coffee, listened, and watched as these children obliviously broke the silence and stillness of the night with the rising of the morning sun. Oh, what joy can be seen in a child running wild and free. 

Minutes later, just as quickly as those children broke the silence of the morning, the smile of my heart faded as my eyes began to fill with tears. I suddenly recounted my conversations from the day before and I couldn’t help but wonder what was in store for every single one of these children. I wondered about their grandparents and their parents. I wondered about the challenges and struggles they would face in the life ahead for each of them. I wondered when they would encounter a lack of resources or access to medical care when they needed it most. And I wondered if they would be held in the bondage of some of the cultural practices that I had been told about. 

As this wave of questions and wonderings washed over me, I began to pray for the children one by one, continuing to watch them play. The three little girls on the steps, the very small boy attempting to ride his bike in the grass, the two other little boys who ran around the yard barefoot, the voices that were still coming from within the building. I prayed for protection, for God to place people in their lives who would expose them to the love of Christ, and for them to come to know Jesus as Lord – that no matter what they faced, they would hold His peace in their hearts as they continued to endure with great faith. Even as I prayed tears continued to flow as I thought, “They have no idea of the hardships that they are going to face in this life and they have no control over it.”  

It was in that moment when God put Luke 4:18-19 on my heart, so I grabbed my Bible, flipped it open to the book of Luke and read aloud…  

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)

God’s message to me was as clear as it gets. 

“You love to hear people’s testimonies because you love to hear how I meet each individual so personally. Do you not think that I will make myself accessible to these children too? I see the poor. I see the brokenhearted. I see the captives. I will pursue these children, that they may have testimonies of how I met them personally, just as I have those who already have a testimony to share.”

My tears stopped. My wondering stopped. And my peace returned. 

“Of course, God. Of course, you will make yourself accessible to these children, just as you have to me and to the rest of those who now claim you as Lord.” 

 My friends… our God is personal and our God is a God of love. Our God is the One who leaves the ninety-nine to chase the stray. Our God loves each of us more than we can imagine or even begin to comprehend. He loves those we love more than we ever will, even on our best days. And He knows all of us by name – even those who seem to be hidden to the eyes of the world. 

Next time that you are given the opportunity to listen to a heart story – will you take the time to do so? And as you tune your ears to the details, will you be reminded of the way that our Lord approaches us? 

Oh, Father, what is man that you are mindful of him? 

And when you are reminded that our God is personal… can I challenge you to pray over the seemingly unseen? Those children sitting on the stairs, and running through the yards, and riding bikes, and playing, and having fun, yet who have a life ahead that will be filled with challenges and struggles that some of us simply cannot grasp? Will you pray for the soil of their hearts – that when God makes Himself accessible to them, as we know and are promised that He will, that they would put their faith in Him as Lord of their lives? 

What a day it will be when we are rejoicing together in the presence of our Father and we meet those children whom we have never met in this life, but who we have covered in the power of prayer. 

Lord, thank you for knowing us. Thank you for knowing every detail of our beings, from our names to the number of hairs on our heads. Thank you, Father, for making yourself accessible to us and for your promise that you will make yourself accessible to all nations. Lord, we pray today, for those who are growing up in challenging areas of the world. We pray that you would prepare their eyes to see you, their ears to hear you, and the soil of their hearts to receive and meditate upon your Word. We pray for protection from the enemy and for an awareness of their void without you, Lord. Lead them to seek you out, to pursue you, and to know you, that they may continue forth as your ambassadors and carriers of your message of reconciliation. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your great love for us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.  

With love,

Your Sister in Christ