Be Available

I was sitting around a backyard last night with some friends. Some friends were new and some were long timers. Evenings in Phoenix during the summer are most often very hot. If there is a breeze, it is so thermally induced that it is not very comfortable. Last night was very different. The weather had cooled down nicely and the breeze was refreshing, a wonderful break from the desert’s heat. My friends and I enjoyed a great dinner together. Conversations were engaged around various tables. Some children were running around the grass while others were playing with their superhero characters on the rocks. The food, the breeze the friends were all very refreshing. As I listened in to some of the conversations around the tables I heard discussions about family members, family history, business woes and current heart issues. Prayers were offered, laughter rang out and giggles filled the air. It was really a refreshing evening. I almost missed this wonderful evening. My wife and daughter had just returned from Los Angeles. We had driven all day and we were tired. We arrived home about 4:00pm and church began at 6:30pm. When I walked in the door, there was a whole stack of mail that needed to be gone through. Our white tile floors had a whole lot of dirt marks on them; the pool was dirty from the windstorm that obviously had occurred in the past few days and the e-mail…it is always beckoning for more attention. The thought crossed Debs and my mind that maybe we don’t need to go tonight. We had just returned home and we were tired and certainly folks would understand. But we went to be with our friends, to bless them and to be blessed by them. We wanted to encourage and be encouraged – and we certainly were. After we ate together, we pulled up chairs in a circle and two guys got their guitars out and we began singing and praying. We were encouraged to think about the concept of being available to be used by God as we sang and prayed. Soon after the singing and praying, we were asked to share a story about how we have been available to be used by God or how others were available to be used by God in our lives. One person shared how they were dealing with some challenging things in their life and one person in the circle happened to be taking a walk at the same time they were. Words were exchanged and prayers were offered and encouragement was received. Another shared how that while they were traveling they saw a single gal waving down folks for help and stopped to lend a hand. The lady was out of gas, no money, not gas can and not ID. So off to the store to get a gas can and filled it with gas to help out the poor soul in need. Another shared how they were hanging out with a friend who was in rehab to get over a drug addiction and they ended up sharing about Jesus with them. These stories were great sermons in and of themselves. They were teaching the rest of us about the value of being available. After the stories, a few additional thoughts were shared from God’s Word. Isaiah 6:8 God was looking for someone to send on His behalf to the world. Isaiah thought about it and raised his hand and said, “Here I am God, why not send me?” God did. Isaiah was available to God to be used. Isaiah was not forced but drawn to serve His King. Luke 5 There are a couple of stories here where Jesus invites a fisherman and an IRS dude to follow Him. Both of them left everything to follow Jesus. They choose to be available to be used by Jesus for His purposes. Jesus invites us all to follow Him but we have to choose to raise our hands like Isaiah and say I’ll go with you God. How can I be available? 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 Here we find some folks who are having a really bad time in life. They are oppressed and really poor. These folks hear about another church far away in Jerusalem who need some assistance and they choose to pool their resources and send it to their brothers in the faith. The Scriptures here tell us they gave generously, beyond their means. Then Paul, the writer of the letter, says that he was startled because they not only committed themselves to God but to Paul as well to do the will of God. These hurting folks choose to not focus on their own pain, but to look beyond themselves and reach out to make themselves available to serve God. We ended the evening by sharing the bread and cup and remembering what Jesus had done for us and that He is coming back for us. We also committed ourselves to being available to God to be used for His glory. It was a wonderful evening in a back yard in Phoenix with a cool breeze and the breathe of God upon us all.