I’ve been reading this new book by Tobymac as sort of a devotional lately. I just picked it up a few days ago and have only read a couple of the short stories, but I’m very inspired. The chapters are a few pages each, with small vignettes shared briefly that make it the perfect kind of read to pick up for a few minutes and put down again. Good devotion material.
I really enjoyed the two stories I read this morning. One was about a girl named Katrina who shared the love of Christ by acting kind to a mean and volatile girl in her high school. She was slapped for one such encounter, but decided to keep on showing love in spite of the physical rejection. She graduated, left town and her mom was speaking at some conference three states away when this girl approached her and told her that the impact of her daughter’s unwavering kindness inspired her to check out God’s unwavering love. Little did Katrina know that her small act of obedience would bear any fruit whatsoever. She did it anyway.
What a gift of grace to be able to find out later that something you did actually DID have an impact.
I don’t think we have to see results in order to be obedience, but I know that I’m somehow wired to want to see results for my work. Call it lack of faith or call it immaturity, but I am so grateful when I do get to see results from my efforts.
Another story I read is about some of the civil rights protests in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The tension was extremely high then and the law enforcement of that city was on the wrong side of that argument and this guy didn’t seem too happy about it. He had police with dogs and fire hoses ready to turn on the peaceful marchers, who were walking down to the jail to pray there. Something happened after the sheriff gave the order to turn the hoses on the crowd (most dressed in their Sunday best)… The policemen stood there silently astonished at the peaceful movement forward by the crowd.
Tobymac ended this story by sharing some of the words of MLK, which talked about children being a part of this movement. He encouraged the parents to let the children “be about their Father’s business,” just as a 12-year-old Jesus was in His pre-teen year.
I love that. I love the encouragement I heard one time about young people. “Children are NOT the church of the future. They are part of the church now.”
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