Part of my job is to make deliveries, this takes me to all parts of the south end of Medford, upper east side to far west side as well as Phoenix and I have seen a lot. I have been to the poorest of neighborhoods and some of the wealthiest; views of the whole valley and views of a dirty rundown trailer park under a freeway overpass. But this last week while I was delivering pizzas for work I saw a couple things that really hurt my heart and really caused me to think more about the statement made by Bill Wilson -- It is easier to raise up boys and girls for the Lord than to fix broken adults.
This may sound weird, but what I saw may have struck me even more than the poverty I have seen... Two deliveries, both to kind of average apartments, but what I felt and saw was hatred, and it's not what you may think. Both deliveries were to young people, between 19-23 and the hatred was reflected differently in both of them.
The first was a smiling young lady, who if you were to see her in jeans and a t-shirt would have seemed fine, but she answered the door in shorts... the reason for my assumption of hatred you ask. The self mutilation she was doing to herself, on her legs were so many scars and marks of cutting. This girl, has something in her life creating a self loathing, it broke my heart. As I approached my car my eyes had tears in them, I began to pray for her. She needs to know that there is a God in heaven that is there, no matter what has been going on in her life, He is there and He loves her. I pray that she will find Him and the peace and love that He can bring into her life. She needs to learn that through Christ she can begin to love herself.
The second place that I delivered that struck my heart, did so for an entirely different reason. The young man that opened the door was nice enough, but behind him on the walls of his apartment were 3 Nazi flags, again I don't know that he even understands the truth of the level of hatred that these symbols represent. My heart broke for him for a different reason, if he understood what they mean then someone has taught him to hate... that kills me, I can't imagine raising a child into an adult that hates another because of race or nationality... wrong, just wrong!! If he doesn't understand, then I hope someone can explain it to him and help him to see the truth and for him to decide to take them down. This one didn't evoke tears, but nonetheless it brought forth prayer. I pray that he meets the Lord and learns to love others not hate or glorify things that represent hatred.
I have had a rough year or so, but being out and about delivering pizzas has helped me to count my blessings, and there have even been a few times that the Lord has used me to minister to others. All in all, it reminded me that no matter what has happened, what I have walked through, God is good, and He is faithful and loving. Sunday during worship we sang a song that says; Where You go I go, What You say I say, And what You pray I pray, And what You pray I pray... and that is the way I want to live, whether I'm at home or on the job, I want to live a Jesus led life.
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