Hope for The Hurting

“I don’t know what I am going to do with these _______ kids!” the angry grandma lamented to me with alcohol saturated breath.  The smell was so strong I took a half step backwards.

“Tell me what is happening.” I replied.  We stood beside my car in her small front yard in an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

The story was a sad one. This women was in her early sixties and just retired. Without warning, she ended up her three teenage grandchildren after the sudden death of their parents in a car accident.  Grandma had lost a daughter. The children lost their parents. And they all were lost for a sense of direction in what appeared to be a senseless tragedy.

Her grandkids were in my youth group. There were twin girls, both in the eighth grade at that time.   The third child was a tenth grade boy who was always in trouble at school.  All three kids dripped with potential and loved church and youth group.  The kids had as many problems with grandma as she had with them.  They shared with me often how she would lock herself in her room, watch TV and drink for hours at a time.  She would emerge in a drunken rage and retreat to the room again to sleep for several more hours.

Standing by my car, her tears flowed as she poured out her broken heart.  Tears would flow as the kids would share their hurt at church.  A family related by blood, divided by tragedy, headed full throttle toward a train wreck of an existence.

It has been many years since that day and I am still amazed as ever at the number of people all around me who live their lives day to day with no hope or purpose.  They function as productive citizens, earning a living or going to school or raising their children.  Yet a short conversation will begin to reveal the depth of emptiness within them.  Their smiles are superficial, their eyes hollow, their futures uncertain.  My heart hurts for them.

Who will be the ambassadors of hope for these people?  Who will be light for those who are accustomed to darkness?  Who will be salt for their frozen hearts? Who will be a voice of testimony to the lost and hurting that God is crazy about them and offers them hope through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus?

How about you?  Would you be that person?  Would you be an ambassador of hope?  I want to challenge you. Ask God to put you in a position to be an ambassador of hope.  One of the best ways to do this is simply to invite people to church. Inviting is so simple yet we do it so infrequently.  Invite one person or family to church per week.  Maybe it will be your neighbor, a co-worker, or a store clerk.  You never know how many people in your circles of influence are living without hope or purpose.  Maybe it will take someone like you to invite them to come and hear how awesome our God is and that He loves them so very much.

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