Lives of Quiet Desperation

Ed always says that people are living lives of "quiet desperation." This is so true and the more people I encounter in life the more I see it. Desperate for attention, love, respect, money, quality time and even for some sense of a normal life. Desperate to be unconditionally loved, though they often don't realize this is what they are longing for. They are deeply longing for Jesus. Quiet because they don't speak of these things, they just demonstrate it through their bad choices or lashing out. I met a 15 year old yesterday that I am going to try to spend some time with training for Team Hope and who is the product of a line of family who are desperate. It's a mess. My friend Becky says that sometimes the Gospel is messy. Why am I reluctant to get my "hands dirty" by getting involved in a "messy" family? Why am I torn between wanting to help and wanting to run? Jesus was involved with the quietly desperate. He was involved in "messy." This young girl wants to run a race so that she can feel that she has "accomplished something." When I talked to her about the fact that running not only gives me time to worship Jesus, but also helps me to feel good about who I am, she shed some tears. She doesn't like who she is. All I know is that I desperately am in love with Jesus and that He is desperately in love with her and that is what I told her. I told what I told 4 year old Will this week: that when you ask Jesus into your heart, he makes it shiny and new again. I don't know what God has in store for this, but if living life with Jesus allows us to cross paths with the messy and desperate, I will do it because that's the point.