What ‘Cry’ Are You Hearing?
I sat here on a conference call with another minister and once again she was sent by the Lord to speak a word in season to me. Seems that I have been a little slack on the draw lately when it comes to putting out the Word of God and also getting out the messages that He has given me by the Spirit to speak.
It’s not that I have not heard what He was speaking it’s just that I really did not want to be the one He was calling to speak that particular message. YES, I know ‘shame on me’…However, that’s my duty to Him as His messenger but also my duty to anyone out there that might just be going through this as well.
I feel that the majority of us have at one time or another ‘heard’ and ‘responded’ to the cries of a child or the cries of older young adults. Our family members, good friends you get the picture. Those that we have an intimate association with seem to gain the choicest amounts of our ‘good Samaritan’ works for the Lord.
Let’s begin by defining the word or the emotion ‘cry’:
- a loud utterance of emotion
- demand immediate action
Of all the definitions these are the two that spoke to my spirit the most. I have found over the years when a person speaks in a ‘loud’ cry that usually ‘demands’ an ‘immediate’ action on our part. However, what if the person or persons crying out are not speaking with words but with the very situations they find themselves in? Trusting and believing in the Spirit of God. Not once have they uttered a cry for help to any one particular individual. They have spoken only in prayer to God, a God they know hears the cry of their hearts.
Now, when God hears that cry He always sends some help. He speaks that need upon the hearts and spirits of whom? Would He speak to just your average Joe on the street? Well He could do that, however, most times He is speaking to you and me His servants. I know this, He never speaks the need of others to those that do not have the provisions or who cannot acquire the provisions from elsewhere to meet the need. He never overburdens you to meet that need He just unctions you by His Spirit.
If God feels so certain that a need has to be met and He’s contacted you then you better believe it was important enough for you to give that need your top most priority because He, the God of this whole universe spoke it to you! Not coerced by man but spoken right to your spirit from His!
I’ll use my family and me as an example. When we first arrived here in California we really were in one of those ‘loud crying’ states. Not the actual state but a frame of mind so to speak. The minister that brought us out here after two days needed us out and at this point we knew no one other than him and his wife. However, because of situations outside of our own control it was best that we high tail it elsewhere even if that meant sleeping in the moving truck until something opened up.
Now, you would think that as a large as this city was, with churches on every corner we could have been able to choose any of the denominations or even non-denominations to help us. Besides, this man was well known in this area so I just knew he knew others that could put us up even if it was just in a garage for a few days. That did not happen. Well, low and behold the Calvary arrived just in the nick of time. Or should I say God sent the ‘Ram in the bush’…
You see I cried out to the Lord and He heard my cries and He answered immediately! Not in two days, not even in one day, His answer rolled around the corner just at the right time! From no word of mouth. From no referral. Just by the spirit our cries were heard.
This form of immediate relief was a deciding factor in my life to make sure when a cry such as ours came before my eyes or was dropped in my spirit I would take care of it immediately because that was how the Lord dealt with my cries. They mattered to Him. They brought a sense of urgency to the Master’s heart and He acted upon that concern right away.
What I have been noticing lately is this, many of us are hearing that urgency and feeling the need in our spirits but we are not willing to sacrifice whatever it takes in our own lives to see that such an immediate need is met. I can promise you this, if it mattered enough to God to alert one of His chosen then guess what, it better matter enough to us to see that His will gets accomplished on earth as it is in Heaven.
We tend to be more destructive than discerning. We want to tear apart the situation and rationalize why those individuals are in the way they are in. That becomes our focus I can hear the pompous voices of the ‘high and mighty’ “I ain’t gonna curse my seed by doing that for thus and so.” How could you curse anything that is already cursed as it is because you are claiming it for yourself and not for the Kingdom? Come on people of God. Ministry is not beautiful all the time. There are times when you need to go to the uttermost, guttermost parts of the world to bring some help to those in need.
How many people are sitting in the churches wearing expensive suits, driving expensive cars and shouting halleluYah ‘look what the Lord has done’, when right there in their congregation are people right in your face that made their way past whatever challenge they were facing to come to the alter and hear what the Lord was going to do for them. People if a brother or sister needs a financial blessing then that means what? ‘MONEY’ and if the church or the body that inhabits the church is able to meet that need they better dig deep into the well and bless. If God told you to do it you better not debate it away.
Same goes for Miss Maime down the road that has not been to services for a long while. Somebody better be picking up that phone if you do not ‘want to waste your gas’ to drive that far and finding out what’s going on with her. What about little Johnny whose been sick and in the hospital for the past three weeks and maybe just maybe we can hustle up a crew of warriors to go and at least pray for the child. WHAT about his mom? Does she need clean clothes? Does she have enough money to buy food while she’s there? What if she had to take off of work to be with the child? Is she single or married? If she is married and the two parents are taking turns sitting with the child what can we do for them to make this burden lighter?
What about sister Joan? She’s way out in the sticks and she doesn’t drive. Has anyone called to see if she might need a ride outside of her ‘token ride’ to church to maybe get some groceries? Has anyone even asked her if there are any things that she may have need of besides the necessities? What is her heart’s cry? Has anyone even considered it?
What about Mr. Joe down the road? He’s not been outside to get his paper in days. Has anyone even wondered why? His plants are all dry and the curtain has not been pulled from the front window in what seems like months. Do we have just a moment to spare to even consider what might be wrong with this picture?
NO! Most people who call themselves ‘christians’ concern themselves with little less than their inner circle these days. God forbid it’s our own family members that are in desperate need because then and only then do we fly into action and see that their needs are met. It’s time that we as the ‘body’ of Christ get off our soap boxes and get on our feet and get the needs to the needy outside of our own existence. It’s time to wake up and get outside of our comfort zone and see to the Father’s heart not our own backyard ‘so to speak’!
I don’t care if ‘little Billy’ won’t have no presents, I could care less if Judy won’t get her expensive perfume or if Johnny won’t get that new bike. PEOPLE WAKE UP! There are families with no food, no shelter and no heat right there in your midst. I don’t care about the so called CHRISTmas ball there’s no CHRIST in that anyway. Let’s get going! We are need meters. We are Kingdom builders. We are the ‘Body’ and we must start meeting the needs of His heart! God is crying out, “SEE THEIR HURT”….. I challenge each of you this season to ask the LORD whom He would send (you) to. He is faithful and when He whispers you be faithful as well!
In His Love,
By His Spirit,
I scribe His ♥
