Remember John

This past weekend, my family spent time in Indianapolis supporting our Bible quiz team from Conway First Church of the Nazarene and attending general assembly. Because our church is a global one, representatives from all over the world were in attendance and being able to meet a few and talk with them made me appreciate the fact that our church plays such a big role in getting the word of Jesus out all across the world.

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon  the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior." (Hillsong United, 2013)

For over four years, this song has been the mediation of my heart and has certainly opened me up to move when God tells me to. This time, my feet would be planted in a town much bigger than I was used to but still I had to respond to the Spirit when it called.  With care packages in hand, God gave me the boldness to get over my fear of the unknown and instead focus on how He wanted me to love my neighbors.  God allowed me to witness smiles, laughter, and plenty of tears (mostly mine, of course) and I still can't believe how he allowed my family to be a small part of something bigger than myself. 

Now I can't stop thinking about John. When I walked around the corner and saw John sitting on the ground, I immediately thought about Blues Brothers, because John actually looks like he could be a Belushi brother. We sat and talked with John for a few minutes as he told us about the city and himself.  We prayed with John and I hope that he sensed our love for him but more importantly, God's love. As we left, I asked John if he usually hangs out in the same spot and when he told me he did, I told him we'd see him again bring him more provisions. We walked past that same corner two more times and never saw John again.

 As we left Indy, my oldest son reminded me that we never got to see John again. Remembering that I had told John that we would see him again, my desire to turn around and go back to the city was overwhelming. Turning around two hours into the trip was crazy considering we still had probably seven more hours of driving in front of us, so the tears fell as I told Jarett (my husband) how worried I was about John and how I had let him down by not looking harder for him while we were still in town.  

Then my husband said to me, "You are believing a lie, Sarah. We did what we could do, but the devil wants you to think it wasn't enough. We may go back to Indianapolis someday and run into John, and he may be the guy loving on displaced folks in the neighborhood because of some family from Arkansas who stopped and showed the love of God to him back in 2017. He may be the guy leading  a church because God flooded a seed that was planted when a six-year old little boy named Paxton took his hand as a family  prayed for him. We don't know what is going to happen to John but God does."

And just like that, my husband spoke the truth into my troubled heart and my want to call up every friend that I had remaining in Indy to go look for John was eradicated because I knew that the One who had saved me would save John because that is what a shepherd does. 

How he loves us so.

"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me." (John 10:14)