DOES ANYONE OUT THERE LOVE ME?
I was sitting at the stoplight in Brother Castro’s car in Manhattan, New York. We were in Brooklyn doing a series of meetings, and he had offered to show us the sights. After a couple of hours we had made it to the heart of the Big Apple.
What an experience New York City is. The sights and sounds of the megatropolis are unforgettable. I had been to Colombia and the Philippines for missionary trips, yet New York City seemed to encompass the same problems. People in need; men and women without God in their lives.
In travelling through the Third World countries I noticed a parallel between them. It’s the result of nations that turn their back on God–poverty, filth, hopelessness, and despair.
Next to my door, on the face of a storefront was a sign, “Under 21”. The pastor explained to me that it was a Christian Rescue Mission for teenagers.
“Teenagers!” I said. I couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, we’re just a block from the Greyhound bus station, and thousands of runaway young people pour into this city each year,” he said. “The hustlers, the pimps, and the dope pushers gather there in droves, anxious to suck them into their world of sin and death.”
I said, “Where do they come from?” He said, “From all over the nation, but mostly from Small Town America.” I asked, “Why would anyone in their right mind want to come to this crazy messed up town?”
“They come for many reasons—jobs, freedom, Broadway, acting, the excitement of the city,” he answered. “But most of all they are looking for love—someone who cares that they are alive! That’s why a young girl can get trapped in a life of prostitution.
They lived with a mother and father who were too busy to care; too busy making money, and doing their own thing. So, they feel the thing to do is join their friends and leave home. Of course they believe all the lies of satan—offering the tinsel and pleasures of life—and also being set free from parents who they have fought with for years.”
“When they arrive, they are quickly disillusioned, broke and hungry. At the bus station or thereabouts, a well-dressed young man offers them help, attention, and kindness. This relationship develops until dope is introduced, and all the bondage of sin that follows.”
My heart was broken as we drove away, thinking of the untold millions of homes that were empty and confused—not even knowing what hit them.
What is this from? Why has it happened to America? It is a result of sin—a part of the curse of disobedience. Deut. 28:32 says, “Your sons and daughters shall be given to another people.”
In each person alive there is a desire to be appreciated and loved. Kindness and caring for one’s feelings are such healing agents that people will go to any length to get it. Some will even commit crime just so they will receive some attention. We’ve all heard of the little boy who is always doing something to get spanked for, because that is the only time his dad pays any attention to him; and a spanking is better than being ignored completely.
Why do women stay around men who beat and mistreat them? I have had them tell me, “It’s better than being alone.”
Jesus met a woman at the well (John 4) that had this same desire. She had been with five husbands, and the man she was with now was not her husband.
Jesus said, “I have waters to drink that ye know not of. You will never be thirsty again.” What He was saying was, I am the only one that can fill that hunger for the love you have been searching for all your life. Jesus said He would be closer than a brother, and He would be your husband, or your wife (if that’s what you need).
Only an experience with love can satisfy our need for love. Jesus is love and He gave Himself that we might know total love, acceptance, and forgiveness.
Yes, somebody out here loves you—the Jesus in heaven and the Jesus in each member of His body. Give us a chance to show it. Look past our weaknesses and failures and know for sure—W E L O V E Y O U.
There’s no place like home,
Because Daddy loves you—
Pastor Watkins
George Watkins Ministries's Blog 