Being honest, you can't go wrong

This is taken directly from JMA's website.

It was a special and unpredicted night. I was invited by good friend and mentor Dave Gibbons to go to his home to meet with some key leaders in finance, media/entertainment & social innovation. I thought it would be a dinner with maybe two other parties, instead when we got there it was a living room full of high powered movers and shakers that all had one thing in common… pain.
No one had a clue why we were there specifically, who we were going to meet, but a room full of strangers by the end of the night became knitted at the heart and connected in the spirit. Dave had everyone after dinner share a little bit about themselves, and what was supposed to be a personal and general introduction turned into each person sharing their life story, their personal struggles, how they have failed and how they have also overcome different challenges in their lives. To be honest, I was shocked as one by one each person bared all. Normally, the kind of people in this room would be those in our society whom the normal public would think would have it all together, the fame, the fortune and the influence, instead what became a common thread throughout each person’s sharing was how meaningless, without purpose and empty is a life full of material wealth, but no spiritual wealth.
Tears began to flow as each person shared. When it came time for me to share, instead of sharing from a place of power, I also shared from a place of honest pain. I shared how I mentally, physically and spiritually broke down about 4 years ago, how I almost gave up on being a pastor, gave up on my calling and had so many inner struggles that I could not overcome. I could have shared all my achievements, instead, I’ve learned achievements mean nothing in this life if you don’t have God, if you don’t have friends, if you don’t have peace.
When it came time to pray, the Spirit of God came in power into the room. So many in that place felt like they weren’t good enough for God, or God had forgotten them, or they didn’t even know if God exists, my heart went out to each of them. I was moved with love to pray for each of them and give to each one a prophetic word from God… one man, probably twice my age, broke down into tears and just began to hug me as I prayed for me. He wouldn’t let go, it lasted for more than 20 minutes and I realized all this man needed was God’s love, a hug from his Heavenly Father, in the worlds terms he had everything, but in his soul he was empty and crying out for love and acceptance. In that moment, as we hugged I knew that God was pouring His unconditional love into his heart, after the night was over he was beaming and overjoyed with his wife. God heals.
So many other things happened tonight, but what stood out to me was this… that it’s not in our pride, nor or power that we experience love. But it’s in our pain and our struggle. See, without pain we can’t experience love. When we embrace pain, we can experience compassion. Whether you are rich or poor, everyone is hungry for love and all it takes is someone to be humble, honest and willing to give it.
365 Days of Love: Share with others your pain, be honest with who you really are, empathize with others and love will overcome!

http://jaesonma.com/365-days-of-love-day-90-sharing-honestly-my-pain-with-others/
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