With Contentment

The other evening we arrived home after dark and there was our friend "John" lying on our porch swing having a smoke. We said hi and the kids and I went inside. Darrell stayed outside and talked with him on the porch swing. He was very drunk and vomited on himself and the porch. And Darrell shared the gospel . . . again. He talked straight to him about how Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy and he's doing a pretty good job in his life, and John cried. Darrell opened the trailer for him to sleep in there again (he's homeless), but then he was gone again in the night.

My friend, "Carrie," came to church with a black eye. I didn't want to ask about her eye, because I don't want her to lie to try to explain it away. She's had a problem with drinking, and it has made her life miserable - none of her six kids are able to live with her - she may or may not know where they are. Satan has certainly stolen from her.

And today, I'm very conscious of my human limitations. I simply can't make a life-changing decision for John or Carrie. There is, on the surface, little I can do. Another conversation will not rescue them. God helped me to remember this just in time as I was near despair last night. So after I'd turned on my bed for a while, I turned them over to the only One who can transform lives.

God, please help me to do my part for those that I know need You, but to recognize that I'm not the author or the finisher - that's Your job and you've got it under control. Thank you for doing the work that I can't see and I certainly can't do. I'm leaving our church family in Your merciful hands again today.