God Loves the Lost

Introduction: I have two LGBTQ students who sit together in one of my classes. One of them is a boy and the other is a girl. Both of these kids are exceptionally bright and give great input during class discussions; their only issue is that they talk a little to much.

On Friday the boy came up to me and asked if he could talk with me outside of the classroom, I could see in his eyes that this was something serious. He told me that his friend, the young girl, had told him that she had taken 50 ibuprofen and 25 aspirin over the course of the last night. He said he was going to go tell a counselor. While he was gone I called the young girl out of class. It was like she was in a stupor. I told her what the young man had said and asked if it was true. She said that it was. I told her that we need to get her to the nurse immediately and she said she didn’t want to go, that if her mom found out she would say she was just trying to get attention.

Of course I had no choice, We got her to the nurse and they got her to the hospital. I’m going to call this afternoon and see how she’s doing.

That brave young boy, who was willing to risk his friendship with the girl to save her life. Earlier that week, I had found out through a journal write, that his mother had been murdered when he was 6 months old, and that his father had abandoned him immediately after. He is being raised by his grandparents.

We have no idea of the stories of the people we interact with on daily basis; we have no comprehension of their true emotional fragility.

I have been a follower of Jesus for over thirty years. During that time the Lord and I, we have times of great intimacy and great distance. Their been times I’ve been mad at him, their have been times I have experienced his love in such tangible ways it was almost like he was physically giving me a hug. But in these thirty-two years I have always felt his presence and known that no matter what he was there, and I could lean on him for strength in any given situation.

These two precious kids don’t know the reality of the God who loves them.

This is my second year at Rudder High School. For the first time in my adult life I have relationships with many people who do not know God’s love for them. Jesus is not a priority in their lives, then many of those who do know him, don’t know how to walk with him. Their lives are little different than those who are clueless to God’s love.

I’m so frustrated guys, because I want to help bridge that gap between them and the Lord. I want them to know the peace and security that comes when you are connected relationally to your creator, I just don’t know how to do it well.

How ridiculous is that? I have been in some form of pastoral ministry for 30 years. I have led literally 1000’s to the Lord through conferences, camps, worship services, and one on one in the context of the church, but I’m like a newbie when it comes to figuring out how to guide people to Jesus in the secular context of my work.

It’s frustrating because some of these situations are literally life and death.

Something of great value has been lost, and it is the hearts of many of the people I work with and teach.