Some of the stories are just heartbreaking. The
people involved literally had no—or little—chance of finding success in
their lives. One young girl started smoking marijuana at the age of
four. How did she do that, you may ask? Her mother held her down and
blew smoke into her lungs, hoping the effects would calm her down.
Several years later, the young girl was on crack and heroin.
I heard similar stories about women
and girls during my recent trip to Healing House, which is a residential
treatment facility for women and their children. Healing House is under
the organizational umbrella of Metro Hope Ministries, which also offers
a men’s treatment facility.
The stories I heard that day made me
realize—again—how fortunate many of us are. Thankfully, few of us ever
had to deal with a mother who intentionally tried to get us high when we
were a toddler. Or had to grow up in a household where generational
poverty was the norm, with no idea how to escape it. Or grew up in a
household where generational prostitution was viewed as “normal.”
No, mercifully most of us didn’t experience those life setbacks. We didn’t begin life several steps behind starting line.
Yet for these women—and everyone else—there is hope. If the gospel is about anything, it is about hope and restoration.
The Apostle Paul’s life always
inspires me. Here was a man who did enjoy a good upbringing and was
thought of highly among his peers. So highly, in fact, that he was a
major force behind the persecution of Christians, these new Christ
followers who some thought threatened the reigning religious landscape.
His hands were stained with the blood
of murdered Christians, yet he ultimately found Christ—or Christ found
him—and his life was redeemed. He went on to spread the message of those
he tried to kill: the message of hope, redemption and healing. And he
was largely responsible, along with the Holy Spirit, with spreading this
newfound faith across the Middle East and parts of Africa and
Europe—and beyond.
A life redeemed, indeed.
Similar stories play out each day
across the world of people finding hope through a church, ministry,
friend or a direct intervention from God. The details may vary, but the
essential characteristics are the same.
Who could have imagined looking at
Paul that one day he would become a leader in the “sect” that he once
targeted? How about the kids who grow up in homes where generational
poverty, addiction and prostitution are the norm? Few people give them a
chance either.
Yet many of them find a way out—in the here and now and for eternity.
Many years back the term
“pre-believers” became popular among some missions-minded people and
those involved with evangelism. They felt it took the negative
connotation out of “unbeliever” or “unsaved” and spoke to the
hopefulness that they would eventually find Christ.
As believers, instead of seeing
someone as an addict or as someone beholden to negative forces, maybe we
should see them as pre-healed, someone who has yet to hear of the love,
healing and redemption of Christ.
Then we can take it upon ourselves to
be the one to share that gift with them, either individually, through
our church or through a ministry like Healing House. Think of the impact
upon those hurting this could have?
So the next time someone looks at you
with desperation written on their face and says, “You mean there is
hope?,” you can reply, “There sure is. Let me show you.”
