“Lord, give me strength to rescue just one more…”
This is my prayer each day – time for “just one more“, strength for “just one more”, faith for “just one more” soul to bring to Your Kingdom.
But, the other evening the Lord spoke through me as He spoke to me. I was talking to a dear Emmaus brother regarding this prayer and desire of mine with our RV journey that God hold back His return and wrath to allow me to save just one more soul for His Kingdom. I said, or God said to me through my own voice, “we can’t just rescue a soul from the battlefield. We can’t just bravely run into the line of fire to pull a soul out then take them to safety.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” James 2:14-17
When we evangelize, speaking of God’s Kingdom, we take on responsibility for more than just rescuing the soul from the fire of battle. We become responsible for the rescue, getting them to a safe place and providing healing.
Like James 2:14-17 says, what good is it to rescue someone who has not clothes from the bitter cold to just send them out to it again? Ok, what if we let them warm up? Great but, naked they are still not able to handle the cold. Ok so give them a coat…. Wonderful, they’ll still get cold again and suffer. So our only option is to rescue, clothe and take them in. It’s the same when saving a soul.
My prayer will remain the same, “Lord, give me strength for one more soul for Your Kingdom.” But, my focus will broaden from simple evangelization (telling someone of Christ) to helping them through the process of healing and coming to know Who Jesus truly is.
Open the ear of your soul, listen for the cries of the wounded and afraid. Jesus went into the field of battle seeking the lost sheep – He has given the Spirit that you could do more. Now, will you jump up and run out? How will you react when you see that lost sheep? Help them…even if it puts you in peril?
“when the Lord calls me, will say to Him: “Lord, I shall remain at the gates of Paradise; I shall enter only when I have seen the last of my spiritual children enter.” St. Padre Pio