Friday, April 3, 2009

Kingdom Perspectives in a Crazy World

I walk around in a swirl of thoughts, emotions, questions, and doubts. It gets a bit crowded, noisy and complicated in "Dan Land." In those moments, I lose focus, perspective and joy. I fail to discern the ways of the King.

But every so often things get really simple. Like when a friend who has been deeply wounded prays for the spiritual deliverance of her antagonist. Instead of a cry of vengeance a plea for blessing opens up heaven for a minute and I see things clearly for a second. The Kingdom moves forward in a moment like this, and I just get to watch.

Things get really simple when I tell KJ the story of an intern headed for Europe who is trying to raise support. But it's tough for this girl and her dad is very sick. Still, her dad really, really wants her to go. (This mirrors KJ's trip to Romania last year; a trip her mom really, really wanted her to make) A second later KJ hands me a check for this gal's trip. My daughter has honored her parents in a way I can't describe. The Kingdom moves forward in a moment like this, and I just get to watch.

I have seen some pretty cool events over the years. Thousands of students praising God at the Urbana conference, hundreds of people coming forward to receive Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade, even a few dozen people stopped to hear me talk about Jesus on Grafton Street. Good stuff for sure. But I suspect the Kingdom moves forward most often in quiet ways like through a person forgiving a deep wrong, or a sad young woman extending a blessing to a "sister" walking a similar path. Simple, unnoticed, selfless acts shoot pinpoints of light into the darkness of evil and sadness.

In those moments you hear the angels rejoice. The other sound? Cloven hoofbeats headed back to Hell. Where else can the enemy turn? It is spring and Aslan is on the move.

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