PRAISE AND PRAYER

God had compassion on the city of Ninevah because in it were more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left. (Jonah 4:11) They were the ones who moved God to pity and to spare the entire city on their behalf. I asked the Lord what would have happened had Jonah continued his course in the opposite direction. Would the city not have been spared?

Jonah was a reluctant messenger who was more concerned about his wellbeing than he was about the people on God’s heart. The answer that was presented to me came from Mordecai’s words to his young cousin Esther who also initially was a reluctant messenger:

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

When God decrees relief and deliverance it pleases Him to use His people despite their reluctance. Whether they are in a palace or the belly of a great fish, God’s bottom line is His heart for His children. He used Jonah and He used Esther to facilitate His heart of compassion. I was also struck that for the first time it was presented to me how God used those who were not the direct messengers but who acted as intermediates in facilitating His heart. Mordecai was an intermediate whose words encouraged the reluctant Esther. The men on the ship to Tarshish were intermediates who prayed to God and intervened in the reluctant Jonah’s life. As a result, both Jonah and Esther did what they were called and positioned to do that resulted in relief and deliverance for many people.

God has already strategically placed His messengers in schools throughout this nation where there are hundreds of  thousands who cannot discern between their right hand and their left. What our sisters in NYC are doing is serving as intermediates for the God-appointed Esthers and Jonahs to encourage them as His messengers of deliverance and relief. A sister’s response below:

“I left the meeting feeling blessed and encouraged.”

Encouraged to be an agent of deliverance and relief for the children entrusted to her care.

This is the heart of our mission:

The Cause exists to inspire, encourage, and motivate Christian Educators to demonstrate Christ’s loving heart and address the needs of children who are educationally underserved and/or disenfranchised.

Praise God for this unspeakable opportunity!

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