Last night I had a dream. A friend of mine (family member) was trapped in a drug deal. They owed another family member a great deal of money, a huge chunk of that person’s inheritance. Their family was really upset, they wanted to catch this debtor in the act. They wanted to see for themselves that he had done it, that he’d squandered the inheritance.
I walked into where my friend was and looked around. I could tell that he’d screwed his life up, I could tell that he owed a great debt. I could also see that he owed this huge debt because he was trying, in his own strength, to get out. He just kept digging his hole deeper and deeper. No matter how much he tried to plan his way out, he was stuck. He’d get trapped by his drug dealer friends or he’d get trapped by his “family” asking for the money for the debt.
I began to look around and I found that there was a milk crate type box that had an ignition where you could put a key in to get out of that ghetto area. I walked out of the ghetto and called my money hungry family members out, one by one, to see the captive instead of just the debtor. The captive saw what I was doing before my other family members did. He was desperate to get out. And he did manage to get out.
I think I needed a reminder today to lift my eyes up past what I think people owe me and see the way that God sees these people. He sees them with eyes that aren’t hurt by a huge debt, that aren’t offended by wrong doing. Instead, He sees them with eyes of compassion. He sees them with eyes that are willing to look past all their junk.
I’m reminded today that sometimes getting the captives out may even look foolish, it might not make any sense, but when the Holy Spirit is involved, life can spring forth if we really want it to. Besides, freed people can pay off a debt better than a captive can. And, if we consider the debt that our God paid for us… well, that really puts it in perspective for us. We don’t want to be like the unforgiving servant.
Life can spring forth in a dry land. Life can spring forth in the desert. Life can spring forth in the valley. Life can spring forth in your ghetto. Pray and ask the Lord today, “God, open my eyes to see things as you see them.” And if it’s you that’s stuck, pray: “God, I’ll even take the foolish way out of my mess, just get me out of it. Come and help me. I need you.” And once you begin to see Him coming, once you begin to see things as He does, don’t turn back, don’t turn your head! Do the work of the Father and do it boldly, without fear!
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