What I’ve seen and heard…

What I’ve seen and heard, not everyone has seen and heard.

“Like what?” you might ask. There is a near infinite list of things that I’ve seen and heard that others have not. Granted others have seen and heard even more that I know nothing of.

Why bring this up? Well the most recent news in my life is that I feel led to leave my where I live in Uvalde in order to pursue what God is calling me to now. These transitions are always difficult and, especially, for the persons leaving. However, when my wife told a friend at the church that we were leaving, she was shocked to hear the news and ever more shocked that the news was spread all around her while she was unaware. It seemed a rather heavy blow to her to hear the news and my wife’s heart sank even further than mine to have to break this news to her.

How she hadn’t already heard the news was surprising to me as she was in the church office several times a week. You would think that it might have come up in conversation. Granted, we tried to not tell the church immediately so that my youth would hear it from me first. (Unfortunately, even that didn’t go according to plan.) We thought that once the youth new and it was coming up in conversation around the church, everyone “in the loop” would know. We even joked about how it was up on Facebook and that our friend really needed to get an account to be aware of these things.

So why tell you that story? Because there are more important things that others don’t see or hear. There is news of a man who came and left (in a way) and will return to us someday. There is global, eternal news of a man who is God who has come to Earth to save all sinners who believe in Him. By now, you probably know who I’m talking about, but what if you don’t? What about people who don’t know who I’m talking about? What about people who don’t have a Facebook account to see and hear everything going on in our lives? What about people who don’t have a computer, cell phone, or even a landline to be kept “in the loop”? What about those people who don’t speak your language? What about those people who are desperate for some good news and haven’t heard or seen anything good from anyone in a long while? What about the suffering who need relief? What about the sad who need joy? What about the lost who need a light in their darkness? What about the fallen who need hope to rise? What about the sick and the broken who need healing and restoration? What about them? I know that I am lost, sad, suffering, sick, and broken so far down in darkness without the good news, the Gospel of our coming Savior.

Sure, we think that everyone knows about our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, but there are many who don’t. There are many who are around us all the time who haven’t a clue what’s going on around them. There are so many who don’t see the Kingdom of God on Earth in their midst. Certainly, we cannot decide what the seeds we cast may fall upon. We cannot determine whether God’s word falls upon the beaten path, the rock, among thorns, or good soil. (Luke 8) What we can, and must do, however, is cast the seed. We must spread the news to all. We must ensure that those who are in need of the word of God may hear it. For how can they hear unless it is told to them? And who can tell them but those who have heard already? He who has ears, let him hear.