The Key
03 Feb 2010 4 Comments
in 1, Culture, God, Life Tags: favor, influence, leadership
I experienced something yesterday that many people only read about or pray for….the Divine Favor of God IN ACTION!!! As many of you already know, Pastor Eugene and I have been asked to be the Campus Pastors of a new campus of Our Saviors Church in Opelousas, Louisiana. Over the past few months, we have prayed/met with leadership/searched for buildings for the church, etc. We had our first official/unofficial service on Sunday night with 217 people in attendance.
Yesterday we had the privilege of meeting with the parish president and his assistant to talk about leasing a facility in downtown Opelousas. I have felt the “favor of God” on my life throughout my lifetime, but never to the degree I “felt” it yesterday. Throughout our meeting, as Eugene spoke to the city/parish leaders about our heart and vision for Opelousas and the surrounding communities, I saw something on each person’s face that was undeniable: HOPE. Hope that just maybe what we were saying could be true, hope that brighter days for Opelousas were indeed ahead for them, hope that all the negative press/statistics concerning their city could be turned around for “good” and hope that they were not alone in their endeavors to bring about a better way of life for the families that call Opelousas “home”.
Every request that we had was answered with “absolutely”, or “we’ll do everything we can do to help you”. But the most convicting comment came at the end of our meeting, as we were about to leave. Eugene had shared with them the passion/vision/heart of seeing this community turned around with such conviction in his words. As we were saying our good-byes, the assistant to the parish president looked right at us, and stated very matter of factly, “YOU have the key to what this community needs.” Being a little stunned by her blantantly true comment, Eugene answered confidently, “Yes, we do!”
Walking away from our meeting, the weight of that comment sunk deep into my heart. The responsibility, the expectation, the hope that was placed on that statement shook me up a bit. WE CARRY THE KEY to what an entire community/parish needs!! That could have been hugely overwhelming, had I allowed myself to think about it for too long, but before my mind went to those thoughts, another one hit me: “While we don’t have the actual key to the city (not yet anyway!! 
), we do possess the key to something else: people’s hearts.”
As Christians, each one of us carries the key to people’s hearts and His name is JESUS. Jesus is what heals a city, a parish, a family, a marriage, a heart. And that is one key we do have: JESUS.
While most of you may never visit the city of Opelousas, have the priviledge of planting a new campus or church, or even meet the city officials of town where you live, you do have one thing: THE KEY TO PEOPLE’S HEARTS: JESUS!! And with that key, comes great HOPE; HOPE for better days, a better life, a better marriage and family, and even a better community to call “home”.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever be the same after yesterday’s encounter…in fact, I hope I’m not. I saw with my own eyes what HOPE can do for someone. My prayer is that we handle our “key” responsibly and with great gratitude for God’s favor that was so evident in our lives yesterday. And my prayer for you is the same: wherever your “city” may be, I pray that you would come to the realization that you also hold the key to people’s hearts: Jesus. May you use that Divine Key to unlock the hearts of many in your world, and give to them a Hope they so desperately need.
