-All my life You have been faithful, all my life You have been so, so good, with every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God…
–“Goodness of God” -Bethel Music
-And He said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
–Mark 16:15
-His love is strong and His grace is free. The good news is I know that He, can do for you what He’s done for me…let me tell you ’bout my Jesus.
–“My Jesus” -Anne Wilson
-Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
–2 Corinthians 5:20
Several times a month I listen to videos from a YouTube channel called “Sprouht,” where a younger guy interviews older and wiser folk and mines them for life lessons. This nugget came from a woman of 103…
I have a really good friend and she’s in her nineties. She called me a week or two ago and said, “Oh, I wake up in the morning and I think, ‘Oh, no, not another new day!’…That is so sad. I wake up and think, “Wow, what am I supposed to do today?” and the sun comes up…I have a purpose and I have a message.
That stuck with me…
A purpose and a message.
The following morning, I woke up and looked up. “Lord, thank You for the gift of another day!” Immediately came an extra nudge/insight…
“Every day I receive an invitation to a party. A party hosted by our Creator. All that’s asked of me is that I mingle and introduce as many people as possible to the Host before it’s time for me to go.”
“Yesssss!!!!” I shrieked, pumping my fist in the air as my feet hit the floor. “Let’s get this party STARTED! Woooo!”
There’s a table spilling over in abundance, a feast for all senses. Activities abound, including treasure hunts…seeking and unearthing little gems of joy in the landscape of the daily routine; they seem to appear most often when we connect with nature and with others. And His party has the BEST decorations! I’m really into the autumn theme He’s got going right now…all these reds, oranges, and yellows in every possible tone and hue. The other day, He even turned on the WIND MACHINE, and all those leaves were swirling and dancing through the air and on the ground like confetti from heaven!
Yet no party is without its troubles. Some days you come to the party and you’re tired out…mentally, emotionally, physically. In pain. Grieving. Wrestling with issues that will not be quickly resolved…or resolution seems impossible. You don’t want to participate…you’re NOT feeling it. In those times, go find the Host. He’ll get you set up, He’ll pour into you, maybe find a couple friends to hang with you, to just be present. Or the Host Himself will sit with you, as long as you need.
Other days, you wake up ready to rock and He leads you to someone as weary as you once were. See, we don’t have to bring the chips and dip…or the hotdish (it’s a Midwest thing, okay?). Just love. Just ourselves. Occasionally you’ll see partygoers wearing masks, or a costume that hides them completely, or formal garments that don’t really fit, but they think it’s expected, and He’s like, “No, no, no…you can leave that all behind. Come as you are.”
There’s also this dude circulating. He used to work for the Host, but he attempted a hostile takeover. It was ugly, resulting in his removal from the company (the Host literally threw him out!), and, man, is he bitter! He does laps and does his level best to mess things up, starting squabbles and drama, spreading criticism and discouragement, and isolating those that are shy or embarrassed or ashamed or broken. He’s like Mayhem in those insurance commercials, distracting people and causing chaos and destruction, then walking away with a triumphant, evil grin.
“Well,” you ask, “why doesn’t the Host just kick him out of the party…preferably permanently?”
Oh, He will.
He will.
But not until everyone has had a chance to meet Him…and receive another invitation…
An invitation to a bigger, better party…in eternity.
Someone stopped me recently as I was weaving through the crowd…
“Why are you so happy? What are you ON? Can I have some?”
I laughed. “I’m not on anything. Clearly you haven’t met the Host yet!”
“Oh…what’s He like? How do you meet Him?”
“I thought you’d never ask…”
Hopefully, some will be intrigued and want to engage in conversation with Him, maybe look up His bio, read this awesome Book that He authored. From there, it’s my prayer that they’ll progress even further, and develop a lifelong friendship with Him, one that deepens and grows as they move forward in life. There’s a good chance, though, that I’ll never know how most of those introductions turn out…and that’s okay. It’s only important that I made them.
A purpose and a message.
And, woah!, you know what would be even MORE epic? (I’m grinning from ear to ear as I write this)…if the people I introduced to Him started introducing Him to others.
AWESOME!!!
Realistically, I can only reach so many fellow partiers. My time and resources are limited. Plus, not all of them are going to respond to my overtures, to me; I’m not everyone’s cup of tea (an understatement to be sure!). So…to have others take introductions in hand, it’s not just super cool, it’s super necessary.
Now if you’re like me, when you think about facilitating these meetups, you get a little freaked out sometimes…you worry about saying the wrong thing, not saying enough, not knowing enough, coming off as too aggressive or coming off as just plain weird. Stop. You’re thinking too much, and you’re forgetting that this is a party. Go ahead, step forward, and make the introduction. The Host will take over from there.
Today I praise God for this invitation, extended to us all.
What a mighty Host we serve!
And, in the (potentially) immortal words of Bill and Ted…
“Be excellent to each other. And…PARTY ON, DUDES!”