I prayed daily to get rid of the gangs in the neighborhood. I was
seeing more graffiti and reading about the different crimes committed around
us. I was only focusing on the negatives and praying against them. But the
words of a friend changed my focus.
My roommate, Jane, said, “Did you notice the rehab place down the
street is now a church? Have you seen the other new church down there
too?” I replied, “Oh yea, and there’s that other big one around the
corner. The parking lot is always full.” I remembered that a Hispanic man and
his kids came around at Easter to invite people to the Baptist church a block
away. And Jane reminded me, “The synagogue just built a brand new
Jewish school down there too.” All kinds of new believers were infiltrating my
neighborhood and I didn’t even know it.
I started off praying AGAINST the negatives, but I ended up
LOOKING FOR THEM! Since I wasn’t looking for the good things, I was
missing all of what was happening around me. It’s a matter of where we put our
focus. It’s not a bad thing to take notice of the bad things then pray against
them and do what we can, but it can get way overboard and cloud the vision the
Lord wants us to see.
John 1:5 says: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
can never extinguish it.” Just one flashlight in a room and all the darkness
can’t make it go away. The entrance of God’s light in my neighborhood is what
is beginning to dispel the darkness.
Now I’m no longer looking at the negatives, but at the light,
focusing and praying for all the good I see. The Lord is tagging our
neighborhood for good!
Love, Carolyn
No comments:
Post a Comment