FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
KEEP YOURSELF IN THE LOVE OF GOD
Years ago, God put it on my heart to start a boys’ home on Long Island. I
truly sensed the Lord was behind this work. Yet, after just eighteen months,
state officials imposed such stringent regulations on the operation of the home
that we had no option but to close it down.
We’d taken in four boys during the brief time we were open. After we closed
down, I lost touch with them. I had always thought that venture was one of the
greatest failures of all time. For more than three decades, I wondered why God
ever allowed us to move forward with it.
Recently I received a letter from a man named Clifford. He told the following
story:
“Brother David, I was one of the four boys sent to the home on Long Island.
Your houseparents were so loving and kind. They taught us the Bible and took us
to church. One day they took us to a church that was holding a tent revival. I
was so bitter and despondent. It was there, under the tent, that the Holy
Spirit began tugging at my heart. I heard the preacher say, ‘Jesus loves
you.’ All the years of pain, confusion and hopelessness came to the surface.
I got on my knees and prayed. That was thirty-five years ago. Now God has
called me to preach, and he’s moving me into full-time ministry. This
‘thank you’ has been brewing in me all this time. I just want to thank you
for caring. I know what the love of God is.”
This man’s letter proves to me that nothing we do for Christ is in vain. That
boys’ home was not a failure—because one lost, confused Jewish boy
discovered the meaning of God’s love.
