Today is Friday, September 20, 2013. It’s my regular day off from the office. However, when the sun comes up, I will be heading to my friend Lori’s home to help with more of the clean-up from the Colorado flooding. There is still much to do, but we are praying for a big group to show up today to help.

After an afternoon of work at Lori’s on Wednesday, I gathered my belongings and started my hike through her neighborhood. A Red Cross truck had been in the neighborhood all afternoon and as I approached the truck, they asked how I was and if I needed a drink of water or snack.

I asked for water.

The two volunteers gave me a bottle of water and a partial box of snack-sized bags of Oreos…they knew how to make this gal happy!

I engaged in a bit of small talk with this duo of encouragers who had just brightened my day. In the conversation I found they were stationed in Denver, but that their homes were in Iowa.

Then it hit me, these volunteers show up in locations that are usually places filled with beauty. But what they see is the ugliness of the disaster. A hurricane and its aftermath; devastation caused by wildfire; and yes, the turmoil of flooding.

But the men I spoke to on Wednesday only saw the good. The people. The folks who were touched in some way by the results of the disaster. They were rays of sunshine on a gloomy day to the people they came in contact with.

Does this remind you of someone? It reminded me of Jesus! Jesus came to a world that He and His Father had created. He knew the beauty and perfection of creation. But what He came to on that night so long ago was a world made ugly by sin.

Jesus came anyway.

Jesus came to “seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 – NIV) Jesus understood that it wasn’t “the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12 – NIV) Jesus “had not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13 – NIV)

Jesus came to the beautiful world to be with people who had been made ugly by sin in order to offer them hope.

That same Jesus is offering you the same gift. Although you may see yourself as a sinner who could never be cleaned up enough to receive this gift, Jesus looks at you through different eyes. The world looks at the outside, but Jesus looks at repentant hearts and sees people He loves. And the gift Jesus offers is one filled with grace, forgiveness, love and hope.

You don’t need to clean yourself up before accepting His gift. You simply need to reach out and grab hold of it. Give Him the dirt, muck, slime, grime, muddy waters of your heart. He’ll do the clean-up and give you the hope you’ve been searching for. He will be your ray of Sonshine on those days you just can’t go on.

In the middle of a disaster, I know everyone who sees a red cross knows what that symbol represents. I believe there are a few symbols that when seen are representative of our Christian faith. A cross. An Ichthys. The Lord’s Supper emblems. The crown of thorns. A dove. Perhaps there are more.

But what should point people to Jesus more than anything else should be the godly lives we live for Him. When others are directed to Jesus through our actions and words, we are doing exactly what Jesus asked us to do.

Today you may not find an opportunity to go into a disaster struck neighborhood to be of help and share Jesus with those in need. But you will encounter people today who are living in the mucky waters of sin. You can offer them that same hope that has invaded your life. Don’t hoard it. Share it with others. Be the beauty in this ugly world. You will find great joy in serving Jesus.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna

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