Meet Josh. Josh is a new guy at AXIS, our small group ministry. This is just another story telling of an amazing God and how he loves us so much that He goes to the ends of the earth to find ways to reach us when we’re sinking and going down.

Josh came to AXIS thinking it was just something fun to do on a Saturday night, and to hang out with some people he didn’t even know. What he really didn’t know, was that there was a God so in love with him, He had set up, unknowingly to Josh, a divine appointment with His love through the people who follow Him.

I personally had never met Josh before in my life. But the moment he walked through the door of our home I knew that this was a young man with a life filled with pain, disappointment, anger, and hurt. Through his laughter, magnetic personality, and kind nature; in his eyes I could see these things staring back at me.

We had watched the video on baggage, and as the group discussion was hitting it’s peak, I wondered how he was taking it all in, ….if he was even taking it in at all. As soon as I opened the topic up for group discussion for everyone to share their hearts, he was among the first to pour out his soul. And I mean, literally pour out his soul he did. He explained the horrifying set of circumstances that this young man of 24 years old had already lived through. Just to name a few, at 16 he saw his older brother murdered right in front of him, he’s been emprisoned, he cleaned up the scene where his father committed suicide just last year, and was raised in literal poverty with 11 other siblings in a two bedroom house with a space-heater for heat, and is currently the main supporter of his mother and other siblings in his father’s absence.

The first thing out of his mouth was. “I believe there is a God, but I know one thing. He’s not in control of my life. Why would a God that’s in control let me endure such horrible things? There’s no way He cares about me. You don’t understand what I’ve lived through. You have no idea of the hurt and baggage I carry around with me everyday of my life! I will never understand how God could let this happen to anyone, let alone me.”

As he spoke, my heart broke. Literally. For a moment, I could almost feel his pain. As he spoke, my eyes filled with tears and this thought was running through my head like a CD that was skipping on repeat. “What do I tell him? What do I tell Him? What do I tell Him”? And then this. “Tell Him that I Love Him. Tell Him that I Love Him. Tell Him that I’m deperately in love with Him.”

I said, “Josh, I’m not even going to pretend to know the hurt you live with. And I completely understand how and why you would feel the way you do about it all. That is logical thinking. But I need to tell you that no matter what you feel, it doesn’t void out the truth. And the truth is, God loves you more than you can imagine, and HE IS in control of your life whether you believe it or not. You know, the Bible says that God will not put more on us than we can bear, and He must think you’re a pretty amazing person that could handle all that you’ve been through. He wants to take your pain, and make it beautiful. He wants to take your hurt and use it to bring you to Himself. He wants to take your brokenness and make you whole. He wants to take your life because of what you’ve been through, and make it a reflection of what He can do through a shattered life. You can reach so many more people than I can because you can look at them and say, I’ve been there. I know what you’re going through, and I am a living testimony to God’s grace and love.”

I told Him that I wasn’t asking Him to understand it all that night. God is much more complex than our human minds can wrap around. And when we try, we will fail. I said, “Josh, I’m asking you to do three things right now. First, to try to realize how much God loves you. -(That’s the toughest one) Secondly, to realize that we’ve all screwed up big time and are in need of His mercy. Last, to just open up yourself to a God that you cannot understand and just watch and see what He can and will do with your life.” He shook his head and said, “I can do that….yeah, I’ll do that.”

Huge seeds were planted in his soul that night. And somehow I don’t think God is finished with Josh. I think he has an unbelievably bright future to look forward to.  He left that night with a huge smile on his face, a hug, and said that he was so glad he came, and would definitely be back from now on, that this definitely had to be of God because it was like we knew his life and what he desperately needed to hear, and that he knew it was just time for a change. I still haven’t gotten over the awesomeness of that first night with Josh. He already feels so endeared to us.

Ya know. What we do doesn’t have to be fireworks. It just needs to be real. After all, what happened to Josh is what it’s all about.

TO BE CONTINUED………