Reach Out!

Originally published at road2wholeness.com on 5/27/17

Welcome Back!  Thanks for visiting The Road2Wholeness Blog and taking the stroll with us today.  You’ve landed in “The Reach” Series. 

Today “The Reach” is Out!  Why Reach Out? 

Well, I suppose that right away a picture or thought comes to mind of helping someone up as is depicted in the post image, and I’m also thinking along those lines, however, I’m thinking about having the heart do the reaching.  What does that look like? 

For me, it looks like one hand extended out in front and one hand extended out behind.  It’s a bit of an awkward position to be in physically, and perhaps it may slow you down a bit, but in my mind’s eye; it works.  So who’s in front and who’s behind, and who’s the big-hearted one in the middle?  This is an image I often think of.  It’s the idea of reaching for what’s in front, while taking your brother with you.

Okay, now I know what you’re thinking.  Drop the dead weight.  But what if it’s not dead weight?  I think about The Great Commission in the Bible, and suddenly this image not only works, but it all of a sudden… it makes sense.  It makes sense when we see God in front.  As long as God is what we reach for, we will be encouraged to carry the load.  Fortunately, with God we are given the heart to do so, and we are empowered to get it done.

I was recently thinking about the entire purpose of God calling forth a chosen people.  (If you’re not familiar with the Bible, in Exodus, God sent Moses to rescue a chosen people and lead them into freedom.)  Have you ever asked why?  I have, and two things were revealed to me.  One reason was to create a people who could personally testify about the hand of God; about His power, goodness, and grace.  Now God wasn’t trying to establish an elite people.  It may appear so, but as you move through to Jesus’s time on earth and the unveiling of The Great Commission, what is revealed is what God knew from the beginning.  God already knew that His chosen people whom He named Israel, was going to fail at righteousness.  He already knew He would scatter them all over the face of the earth for their disobedience to His laws and prescribed ways.  Therefore, the scatter was not simply for punishment as it first appears, but it was for the distribution of a chosen people (a people who could testify about Him) all over the face of the earth.  And there is the second reason God called forth a chosen people.

That is why Jesus had to come from that line of people.  First He had to redeem the chosen, and then He released them to go forth and spread the good news about what they had witnessed.  This has now become the universal pattern of Christianity; that we would experience the power, goodness, and grace of God and then move out in telling the good news; which is the testimony of your encounter with the Lord. 

As I examine this pattern, I see that it is the God way to do life.  Therefore, The Great Commission is not just an assignment of Christianity, but it is used to show you how to position your life.  That is the position of one hand stretched out to God and another stretched out to your brother.  This is how we stretch our heart’s capacity to love, forgive, serve, and honor.


So today, I simply want to encourage you to, “Reach Out”… first to God and next to your fellow man.  Live with brother in mind and let the heart do what it has been called to do!  “Reach”!



Remember to go within that you may never go without.  The God within awaits you.  Until our paths collide again, I wish you... Peace, Love, Life, and Complete Wholeness in Christ!


In Service,


NaTisha Renee Williams



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