Photo by Trym Nilsen on Unsplash

Over the past week I have been reminded on how broken our world is and how deeply God wants to see the entirety of His creation restored to him. So lets break this into three sections: Brokenness, Restoration and Us.

Brokenness

We live in a deeply broken world! COVID-19, as terrible as it is, is only a part of that story. To give you an idea: on average 1.2 million children are sold into slavery each year and it’s estimated that around 500,000 rapes occur each year (although some sources say that number is closer to a million each year). If you continue to dive into other horrifical acts that happen each year, the numbers continue to be outrageous. Long story short, we live in a deeply broken world! And the Lord’s heart breaks daily over these issues.

Restoration

Within all of this, the Lord’s heart is that of redemption! When reading the Bible, you don’t have to look for a long time to find stories of God using a broken person or even redeeming entire broken nations. His heart is that of love and redemption. With that said, past reputations follow us around. In the book of Jonah, Nineveh was redeemed. But the outside public likely did not know it to be (or believe it to be) a God fearing city right away. Same with Paul. Many questioned him when he first started proclaiming Christ. God’s heart is for the broken to be redeemed.

Us

So where does that leave us? It may feel like the church has been disbanded, that we cannot meet as the body, that we have to think outside the box in how we proclaim the name of Jesus. There are dozens of countries in a similar boat, many of which proclaim Jesus under the threat of imprisonment or death. If history has taught us anything it is that when the Church rises up in the midst of hardship, spiritual warfare (we are in a big battle) and calamity; broken lives are saved, transformed and restored!

My challenge to us all is to be the Church and watch Jesus transform the world around us!

Spencer McDowell, Challenge Course and Recreational Activities Manager
Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center