Back in September, while we were preparing to leave for Africa, a family friend prayed a beautiful prayer over us. He asked the Lord to guide us and show us the way. He also asked the Lord to protect us, but, not to keep us too safe. He added: “May this family know that they are the dangerous ones!” Since I know my friend’s heart, and ‘get’ where he is coming from, I was able to hear this prayer and accept it without completely understanding what he was asking. I did ponder it, though, and reflected upon that prayer often during our three months in Swaziland.
Last week, we spent some time with this same friend after returning to the States. He echoed his prayer from September, praising and thanking God with us. Only three months later, yet it seemed like an entire lifetime had passed. We had seen and experienced so much during our time in Swaziland. Our family was stretched and challenged more than ever before. We were also blessed beyond our wildest imaginations. We opened up our hearts and lives to people who quickly became like family to us. We allowed ourselves to love and be loved in ways we had never known. Were we always comfortable? NO! Were we always safe? NO! Did we always understand the path set before us? NO! Were we ever outside of the grasp of our Almighty God? NO! We were living dangerously…
We took our kids to a strange land and an unfamiliar culture…
We moved away from the familiar, trading the known for the unknown…
We allowed our hearts and lives to be touched by people who were sick and dying…
We gave to people who said they had need, even when we couldn’t be certain they would use what we were giving them wisely…
We willingly entered into difficult situations, often feeling ill-equipped and under-prepared…
Prayer became something we did continually, in every situation…
Our faith became a garment, worn and stretched by constant use…
…living dangerously, yet, WE were the dangerous ones!
Dangerous because we serve the ONE who left the comfort and beauty of heaven to live in a strange land and an unfamiliar culture…a culture that did not know Him or accept Him and eventually murdered Him. Dangerous because we serve the ONE who embraced lepers and shared meals with prostitutes and walked the streets with thieves. Dangerous because we serve the ONE who poured out all of Himself to the point of shedding His own blood , even though those He came to serve constantly and consistently abuse and mis-use the riches He gives. We serve the most dangerous ONE of all! Jesus Christ, who came into this world in the form of a helpless baby boy. Born in the middle of a silent night over two thousand years ago to a young couple who had no idea the gift they were giving to the world! Over time, it seems, His parents must have come to realize the dangerous life their son was leading. How they must have wept as the weight of that began to press down on their hearts. However, I can’t help but believe that Jesus’ earthly parents must have also had a sense of deep pride and awe as they also started to see the truth of their son’s existence. The truth that He was the dangerous one! He held the power to transform lives and change the world. He met danger and death head on and He overcame them both!
That is the incredible and priceless gift being offered to each one of us through the incarnational life and ministry of Jesus Christ! He is inviting each one of us to live that same dangerous life. A life of laying down comforts and picking up crosses. A life of seeking the lost and loving the found…even when they are dirty, sick, hungry and dying. A life of looking death in the eyes and saying “You don’t scare me! “
Will you accept that gift today? The gift of a dangerous life…
Worship the newborn King, but remember He is also the Lion of Judah!
Wise men of old bowed down before Him, however later in His life many of the same wise men demanded His life on the cross!
Look at His hands, gently holding little ones and comforting them…but remember those same hands also turned over the money changers tables in the temple!
See the love and mercy in His eyes, but remember no darkness or sin can stand to be in His presence; beneath that same fiery gaze!
Take the gift being offered today in the birth of Jesus Christ, but receive it with your eyes and heart wide open. Open to the understanding that with Christ in you, you are the dangerous ones!
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and that I myself may be in them. “
John 17:25-26
“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”
Revelation 19:11-13
Amen baby. Love living dangerously with you!
Again; another reminder of how we all should be living. Thank you!!
I LOVE this. Used part of it when speaking to junior high students at church this week. So glad you wrote it!
Unfortunately, most of us live dangerously vicariously through people like your family. However, your example and adventures, definitely has given me the courage to enter a whole new level in my Christian service. For that I say “Thank You” and for your friendship I am for ever grateful.