Miles Walked: 15 / Temp: High 70’s Low 80’s

Area: Wickenburg toward Phoenix, AZ

Soup’s On

Sitting at the counter slurping down soup in a small town café while taking a break from my day’s walk… I found myself seated next to a professional Blue Grass singer in a ten gallon hat who spoke with a voice that brings warmth to one’s soul.   The longer we talked, the more people around the counter joined our conversation. As I finally stood to leave…the Blue Grass boy said “wherever I eat while singing my way across America each year…I find the same people in cafés only with different names.” As I left, resumed my walk, and pondered his words…it became obvious that each of us meet the same type of people everywhere we go each day. Life’s cafés all have their town leaders, grumps, mechanics, gossips, peddlers, do-gooders, drunks, preachers, travelers, power brokers, and unmentionables… Likewise, deeper clarity emerged revealing that each of us travel our own journey either driven or drawn by ideologies we have collided with and adopted as our reason to live… 

Wee Hours

The past few days have found me awakened early in the morning to think of and pray for those I have met and who are dear to my life. As I lay in my bed facedown walking down the corridors of my heart, I was reminded of many faces, events, and…unfinished chapters yet to be written in lives along my path. Since embarking on my walk…I have encountered many everyday people of diverse tone and persuasion. Some blow through Starbucks on their way to work, while others huddle in cold corners trying to keep warm. Some are leaders, while others hang by fingernails hoping to survive. And some are generous, while others oppress those without power. 

Step By Step

The past ten days have led me through deserts…alone. Each passing step drew me deeper into the unknown, closer to my Maker, and into my awareness of all my life lacked in its expression of God’s heart. With one step I recalled an ill-spoken word, with the next an attitude amiss, with another a helping hand retracted, and with yet another…a gift not given… Step-by-step; I found myself confronted by the tyranny of my own soul, but reminded of God’s undeserved mercy while walking wayward in the world around me. Thankfully, God’s love carries us beyond our performance based on our motive as He uses the sack lunch of our lives to serve a feast to multitudes without Him. Before we long to enter the Promise Land, remember that we must walk through the desert to get there… 

Those In Need

Thus far, my path has led me among the less fortunate more than any other group as our nation’s staggered economy and dysfunctional systems fall hopelessly short. These weary souls include those who are homeless, disenfranchised, broken, addicted, wayward, hungry, and dying within. Though I wish I could say differently…I find many in America calling themselves Christians remain tragically unaware or disinterested in the rampant human need unmet around them as they expect more themselves. Our great land has enjoyed abundance for so long, that self focus overshadows many-a-believer’s call to extend mercy toward the lives of those lacking basic provision. Sadly, the Church has left its work to a government system never created or empowered to administrate God’s loving heart to people deeply in need of a Savior’s love. As a result, our country is now experiencing the rebounding affects of putting self before others as we reap the consequences of more than 50 years of unrealistic expectations, projected responsibilities, and self-indulgence. As a result; fear-based social unrest knocks at the door of our daily lives as we stand confronted by fleeting national security, struggling banks, lost jobs, foreclosed homes, re-possessed cars, and hopelessness rising from hardened hearts. It’s time we step back, reconsider what is important, and step out in a new direction to bring life to others in a way we hope to receive ourselves… 

Moving On

My progress requires that I reach forward, make contact with, and find my next point of refuge as I move towards and pass through upcoming towns. My forward reach usually occurs on the heels of my early morning prayer, breakfast, encounters, and walking some 15 miles each day. I am always thankful when I connect with those willing to provide me place to stay on my way by.   Each location I arrive too weaves me into the local life fabric of those I am privileged to meet. It is always interesting to “sense” an area, observe those who live there, and do my utmost to put the piece into their puzzle God gave me to give for His glory. Fortunately, God sends those who have wisdom to invest in my life too. Either way, everyone is better off for having met each other. 

Preparation

As I review my path and the combined ingredients put into my equation by those who have crossed my trail…I find myself more impassioned to meet, help, and befriend those I will encounter among the under privileged of Phoenix. God’s heart goes out to those without means to help themselves… Though it is easy to identify what seems to be blatant errors or wrong attitudes commonly found in those living downtrodden lives…we are called to compassion. It really does not matter why people’s lives are broken…it simply matters to God that they are broken. We can either stand in judgment of those less fortunate as we stand with our thumbs under our own suspenders…or we can extend hope giving them a chance to rise from misery to life. 

Green Beans For Christmas

In the past few days…I have been honored to meet yet another of life’s heroes who lives what he believes, rather than talking about it. From his vantage point…we Christians are all green beans in God’s field. Though we may find ourselves picked by God’s hand, put into different cans labeled either Del Monte or Libby’s or Fry’s…we remain food to feed the masses in God’s harvest field. Will we yield to God’s picking, placing, and purpose…or, poison those we were created to serve because we resisted the heat God applied to purify us during the canning process? Please join me in taking God’s love to those who are detached and alone during this Christmas season. God’s blessings on you! 

Hand Picked By Jesus,

Greg

BattleCry

www.battlecry.org

www.battlecry.org/blog

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