Tim Noel serves as the Director of Mission Advancement and Church Partnership at Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries.
Lately, I have been drawn to the familiar quote from Experiencing God: “Watch and see where God is working and join Him.”
As I’ve reflected on this, I’ve also been reminded of the opposite truth: Watch and see where Satan is attacking and oppose him there.
Since Genesis 3, Satan has relentlessly attacked the family. That first act of deception and disobedience unleashed a ripple—perhaps even a tidal wave—of brokenness and destruction. Today, children and families across our state continue to experience the fallout of these attacks.
Yet, as the body of Christ, the Church, we are called to step into that brokenness and destruction. And here’s the encouragement: these are the very places where God is actively at work. God is working in the brokenness. God is present in the messy.
Story after story, family after family, marriage after marriage, hurting child after hurting child—this is where we find Him. It is in these very spaces that God invites us to join Him.
Naturally, we would love for His invitation to be found in the easy. It would feel far more appealing if it were in the normal and peaceful. However, the opportunity to impact children and families with the truth of God and the love of Christ is so often found in the hard. His invitation is frequently found in the painful.
Yet, this is where God is working. And it is both our honor and our responsibility to join Him in His work.
God is working in the brokenness and destruction. Will you and I join Him there?