But God

For God so loved the world that he gave

 his only begotten son that WHOEVER believes

in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  

John 3:16

But God...

I leave Cambodia tomorrow.  Today a small team of us went back out to Esther's village to see if we could get "grandma" to agree to release her.  She had been given some time to consider this after the last conversation and I was praying that she would give the final okay.  It was also my desire to see Esther, and to say goodbye.

As we walked up to Esther's house we noticed she was not clothed.  Her grandma quickly threw a skirt on her and shoved her out the door to greet us.  It was just odd and my spirit was literally sickened at the thought that Esther's terror might be worse than we first imagined.  As the team began to speak with the grandma they encountered great resistance.  She did not want to let Esther go. It looked like we might be facing a dead end BUT GOD suddenly moved.

A few of the neighbor women gathered and joined the conversation.  They began to speak the truth about Esther's abuse.  "You make her sleep outside."  "You don't feed her."  "You sell her for sex!"   The women rose up in support of Esther and compelled the grandma to finally agreed to let Esther go. I was incredibly proud of these women who had previously looked past unthinkable cruelty and had watched Esther's abuse daily without intervention.  They had seen the true value in Esther and they did the right thing.  It was a miracle. 

Before I left on this mission, I struggled with the thought that a moment might come where I would be required to show the unconditional love of Jesus to the perpetrators involved in the cruelty to these children.  I wrestled so much with this.  How can I love them? They are cruel and evil people!   I literally cried rivers of tears as God showed me the truth of his love for mankind.  When we were at our worst,  our very horrible worst, God showed his greatest act of love for us.  God saw the true value in us and his response was to rise up in love and save us.  I realized how far I was  from understanding that kind of love but I prayed that if the situation came up, I would be able to genuinely represent the love of God regardless of the circumstance.

At the end of the discussion with Esther's grandma she began to sob.  The thought of losing Esther, her financial security, was frightening to her.  Everything in me wanted to turn my back and walk away without a word.  A woman who was capable of such evil deserves her tears.  Right?  BUT GOD had prepared my heart for this moment and suddenly the love and compassion of Christ flooded my heart and I was able to walk over to her, hold up her face and look into her eyes with as much love as I could muster.  I held her and prayed for her as she cried in my arms and I thanked her for allowing Esther's freedom. I suddenly saw the value in her from God's eyes and I was compelled to love this poor lost and broken soul. Yet another miracle!

 Broken people break things.  Hurting people hurt people.  But...the kingdom of Heaven is like this.  God does not desire that any should perish and he values each one of His children because they are made in His image and a huge price has been paid to redeem them from the consequences of their sin. His perfect love heals the broken places, binds up wounds , and it sets us free. If we would only receive it and let God do what only He can do. I am continually astonished at the power of His love when I allow it to work through my life. I have to admit, I don't always do this but this day, as we drove away from the village, hearts soaring and rejoicing over the miracle of Esther, I included a heartfelt thank you to God for changing my heart and enabling me to partner with him on His mission to so LOVE the world!

Love from the road,

Julie

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD,

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

but rather that they turn from their ways and live.”  

Ezekiel 33:11