Love That Leads to New Things

The Word, the heart of God or how we know Jesus, always starts off sweet but brings us to a bitter place. What the heck is that all about?

It’s the Lord leading us and directing us into places we would never otherwise dare to venture. He doesn’t tell us everything up front, but once we step out into that territory, we become committed to something we would have never committed to otherwise. 

Example: God led me to fix an old woman’s roof. This led to me finding out she had no food. When I bought her food, her boyfriend said he needed food, and so did some of his friends. This led to a weekly grocery outreach, which has now become the OpenDoor Food Bank. My wife and I have embraced it as our life’s work.

I’m no Noah. God said, “Build an ark.” Without even knowing what an Ark was, Noah did. Had God said, “Troy, build a food bank,” I don’t think I would have listened. Instead, Jehovah Sneaky let me step into the waters of the unknown, then wade in through the shallow end before immersing me neck deep in serving the poor. The sweet part of taking care of the poor is that I see miracles, salvations, and I experience great favor with God. Now, here’s the bitter part. Feeding the poor cost my family dearly.

Oftentimes, we gave away food when we didn’t have any ourselves. We went home to a house with no glass in the windows and no electricity. There’s no money in feeding the poor. For years, debt and doubt hounded me. The OpenDoor Food Bank is bittersweet for me. It is something wonderful I had to pay a great big price for.  When we love Him, we go where we never would have gone without Him.