Perry and Shawna MorningsPerry and Shawna Mornings

People are Searching and They Don’t Even Know What They’re Searching For

Published Jan 23, 2025, 7:12 PM

Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan’s Purse, a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems, shares how when all seems lost and all your left with is disaster, that’s when people start searching, even if they don’t know what they’re looking for.

Norm Cruthers volunteers to work with Samaritan’s Purse, helping to do the work that needs to be done and praying with the people they serve.

On one visit to evaluate damage, Norm couldn’t help but share about Jesus with the homeowner. He later found out that right after he left she accepted Jesus as her savior.

To join the work Samaritan’s Purse is doing click here. Whether it’s prayer, a financial donation, or rolling up your sleeves and serving on site you can be a part of bringing the love of Christ to those whose lives have been devastated.

Also in this episode:

Shawna watched as the peace of Christ fell on a woman deeply grieving the loss of her husband. God wants to give you His perfect peace too.

Dodd shares how pouring himself into helping his kids with their new homes became a reminder of the importance of tending to your own home(spiritually speaking).

Lastly, Shawna shares how she couldn’t stop thinking about her husband when they first met. Love will do that to you. How do we keep our love for God aflame so that we want to meditate on his words day and night?

It's the Perry and Shawna podcast on the real life journey with you, reminding you that you are ABBA's beloved child and that Jesus has called you into his massive mission to heal the world.

When we see the footage of disaster, when we see what's left after the disaster has come and gone, it feels overwhelming. And you may wonder, is there anything that I can do to make a difference?

You can pray. You can give. You can go. You can learn more about ways to do that at Moody radio.org. Grand Rapids talking about disaster relief with Norm Crothers. Norm. Out of sight, out of mind. I think, you know, we talked about this morning, wildfires out in California, of course. But for those of us who aren't seeing the pictures of the devastation that still remains, and despite a lot of the cleanup that's already taken place, you've you've got a pulse still on North Carolina in the recent hurricanes?

Yes, the people in North Carolina, most of them have shelter and they're in out of the weather. So they're warm, but they're living in in tiny houses. They're living in, in campers or trailers and trying to start, you know, rebuilding their lives. And you've got 240,000, I believe, was the number of structures that were lost in the storms, uh, through the, through the Carolinas. And so you've got all of these people who are trying to rebuild their lives. They may not have a job, they may not have, you know, normal winter clothing to some degree. And they're trying to get through this time. I spoke with a friend of mine who's actually in the Carolinas, and the other day it was, uh, approximately four degrees, uh, where he was at in the mountains. And so they're getting winter weather just like we get in get in Michigan. It may not last as long and the days may be a little bit warmer, but the reality is that that there's still a lot of needs there. Uh, some of those houses will be being rebuilt by Samaritan's Purse in the future, and there's an opportunity to continue to volunteer there, um, throughout the winter months and especially into the spring months. Coming coming up.

Appreciate you sharing the God stories of what's been happening there and reminding us that the need there continues as well. Norm Cruthers appreciate having you on the show today.

Thank you. Bob.

I know that, uh, you you were, uh, allowed to come on and share stories from your perspective. I say allowed that's not really the term, but couldn't really speak, you know, officially on behalf of Samaritan's Purse. But I know someone who can. And that's, uh, Franklin Graham was recently on our morning show of Moody Radio Chicago.

What's happening is just, incredible. The fire and the wind at the same time. We haven't had gusts like that. I don't know since when. And it just took that fire and just spread it. So people have asked what Samaritan's Purse is doing. We can't do anything till the fire quits. But once the fire stops, about a week and a half to two weeks before the government, the first responders will allow you back into those communities because they have to go and canvass the communities to make sure that they've got all the people out of those burned houses. And then once that's done, then they will allow us to go in and we will help homeowners sift. And after a fire, that's about all you can do is sift the ashes. They'll be looking for something that maybe it was their grandmother's wedding ring or some, you know, some valuable. That may not be that expensive, but, I mean, it's valuable to them. And they're looking for something like that. And so we'll have teams of volunteers and they're helping them to do just that. They'll try to recover what they can. And of course, we'll have chaplains with us from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and we'll, um. As we sift through their ashes, we'll be talking to the homeowners and praying with them, and. And then what we do is everybody that works on that, that house, we'll give them a Bible and everybody will sign that Bible. So it'll be a little keepsake that they can take from the ashes. It'll be the A Bible. So it's a great opportunity for the gospel. When people have lost everything, they will listen sometimes when they wouldn't have listened before. And especially when you come in and help them and you're not asking for anything. You're not asking for money. You're you're just there to help them. They'll listen. And so I think we'll have an incredible opportunity in the weeks ahead and the months ahead to share Christ.

Franklin, you've spent more than 40 years responding to these major crises through the work at Samaritan's Purse. Covid 19, the conflict in Ukraine, West Africa, nine over 11 natural disasters. What have you seen in the aftermath of some of these different things that gives you hope? You mentioned there's an openness to the gospel when you walk into utter devastation. Where do you find that hope?

I believe people are searching and they don't even know what they're searching for. There is something inside that says to a person, there's got to be something more than this. There's got to be another something. And I think so. People are on a quest. They are searching, but they don't even know what they're searching for. And that's when present the gospel to them. And time and time and time again, people will. It's like a light goes off. That's what I'm looking for. That's what I wanted. That's what I needed. When they hear that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save them, this is a combination of of being available, having the Holy Spirit in the mix and using the Word of God. And he brings that all together and people get saved.

That's Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse, and you can join in sharing the gospel, changing somebody's heart forever. You can share in rolling up your sleeves and helping them to sort through the mess. Excuse me. I'm going to give you the phone number. Go to our to our website Moody radio.org/grand Rapids. Just click on Disaster Relief today. You have no idea how God might use your willingness. Well, when we say yes to God, when we're willing to step in and just do what we can do and lend a helping hand, you just don't know what God might do with that. It might make an eternal difference.

One of those people that has stepped in and inspired me with the possibilities of expanding service and opportunities is Norm Crothers. Good friend of our community. A good friend of Moody Radio. Norm, you've been involved in disaster relief efforts for about ten years, and God bless you with just a really rewarding story that came out of what you call your first deployment, right?

Yeah, the first time I was in Key West, part of what I needed to do was learn how the ministry worked. And one of the first things that they do is they go out and they assess houses that have been damaged. And we had spent a whole day working, assessing houses. And we got back to the church and they mentioned there was a house just around the corner from the church that actually had needed assessing. And so we actually had dinner and and went out after dinner. We just walked around the corner over a block and a half, two blocks and met with this homeowner. She had had a tree fall on her fence, and she didn't have chainsaws or anything else to to get rid of the tree, and there wasn't a whole lot of work that needed to be done. But we wrote up a work order. We talked with her about the ministry, we talked with her a little bit about Jesus and and shared how Jesus had impacted my life and in the process. Uh, she seemed kind of open to it and kind of excited about it a little bit, but also kind of still felt like there was a little bit of a hand up, and in the process, a couple of her neighbors were there, and we walked over and we talked with the neighbors and and shared what Jesus had done in my life. And, uh, actually left them with a track. And, uh, if you don't know what a track is, it's basically, uh, the steps to salvation in a little booklet form. And didn't think much about it at that point, you know, and we walked back to the church, uh, the next day when we were, uh, talking at the end of the day, uh, the team that went to work on her house actually came back and shared that, uh, that night after we left from from sharing Jesus and leaving the track, that he actually couldn't get that out of her mind, that she sat and read that track and actually gave her life to Jesus Christ that night.

That is incredible. Norm, you said that you were talking with her about the fence and what needed to happen, and you just started telling her about Jesus in your life. Was that? Was that just like an organic, natural conversation? Was it something that you had been trained to share in advance? How did that happen?

You know, it was a natural conversation. And and the the strange part is that it was just a fun time for me. Everything was new and exciting. And, uh, for me, I was just loving every second, loving on homeowners and enjoying meeting people. And God just really used it. Uh, the ministry, uh, actually ended up seeing, I think, about 350 people in the Florida Keys come to a saving knowledge of Christ during that window. Wow. And for me, I got the opportunity. I believe I was able to lead four people to the Lord during that that window of time. And and it was just an amazing, uh, fun time for me.

God wants to give you his Peace, man. It feels like anxiety is unavoidable, but God wants to give you his peace. Let that wash over you. So I was at Bible study, and the leader started to kind of direct our attention to the front of the room. It was time to get started. So everybody starts shuffling their their Bibles and their notebooks and, you know, getting everything set up and ready to go. Everyone except for Alice. Alice actually quickly started picking up her things and putting things away, and I was like, wait, what's going on? So she got up and left the room and I just kind of followed after her to make sure she was okay, and I asked if she wanted to talk, like in a different room. And she said, yeah, that'd be great. So we sat down and I just said, what's going on? What's on your heart? And it turned out it was the anniversary of her husband's death just the previous year. And she had been grieving. And so I listened as she shared about her husband and his loss. And but there was more, and I could tell there was more. And I just I didn't ask for more. I just remained quiet and Quiet and listened, and she started to share that she was his caregiver. And towards the end of his life, it got really complicated having to care for him. And the medications increased and the care increased. And she said, I haven't spoken this out loud, but there is a part of me that just wonders if maybe I was responsible for his death. Like, maybe I messed up the medications. Maybe I didn't do all the things and you could just see the weight on her of feeling like, is it possible that that I'm responsible? And she had not spoken that out. She had carried that for a year. And I sensed you got to know in me everything in me. This is the point at which where I want to say, no, no, no, no, no, I'm sure it wasn't you. Like, there's no way you were responsible. You love your husband, and you took such good care of him. And you're so responsible anyway. And like I wanted to say all the things. I wanted to say something, but I felt like God was saying. Shh. Shauna. Just nothing. Just be.

Quiet. I'm thinking. First, kudos, you know, for picking up on the signs and signals in a room in a situation like that, but then also being willing to to go to the person and ask the question that that might open up that box, you know. And then being willing to listen. Yeah. That takes discipline just to listen and not to like you said, you want to fill in the gaps. You want to give all of that right away. But you're like, maybe that's not what the Lord would lead me to do right now. Maybe that's not what that person needs.

My reaction is to speak. That's that's natural for me. Right? Like I've got words.

You're a professional at it, so I speak.

So yeah, but I sense the Lord just saying be quiet. Just listen. And so I listened and she shared more. And then when it seemed like there was a pause, I said nothing. I just listened and nodded. And it was it was just the Holy Spirit leading me into that. So anyway, when I felt like the words had been shared, I sensed again the Lord saying, you know, I want to talk to Alice. I have things I want to say, so I said, Alice, are you okay with. I mean, God's here, and he's just heard everything that you just said. Are you okay with just sitting in the quiet and seeing if he would want to say something to you? And she's like, yeah, you know, I'm okay with that. So we both closed our eyes and bowed our heads to just listen and let God speak into the moment. And again, I sensed the spirit saying, open your eyes, I want you to watch. And so I did, and I remained quiet. And Alice was just, like, tense. Like everything in her was tense. Her her hands were clasped into fists that her fingernails were digging into the palms of her hands. Her forehead was just, you know, tight.

All she'd been carrying all that stuff for quite a.

Long time, and it was physically evident on her. And we sat in the quiet, expecting God to speak. And I watched, like, all kind of the tension in her forehead just start to relax. I watched it kind of wash over from the top of her head, down her face into her shoulders. Her shoulders started to relax and her arms and her finally her. Her hands just kind of released until she was palm up, sitting there, relaxed, and then she kind of took a deep breath and exhaled and opened up her eyes. And I was like, Alice, what just happened? That's a whole different posture. Yes. I was like, what just happened? Did God speak to you? And she goes, he gave me peace. The God of the universe met her in all of her angst and all of her guilt and all of her grief, and he just gave her peace. You know, you.

Look around in our culture and in our communities, you can even see it at the gas station. Isn't there an iced tea that has like, yeah.

That's one of my favorites.

Signs of peace symbols I found for a while. It would just be when I would be talking to someone. They were getting ready to go. I would just say peace. And I'm like, I don't mean that. I mean, I mean that it's like shalom, you know, like like peace. And it's like, I guess the way I say it, sometimes I feel like, oh, is that that wasn't disrespectful. That wasn't insensitive, was it? No. I want peace for that person. Yeah. Even. Even as we part ways.

Yeah. God's here. The Prince of Peace is here. He wants to meet you right where you're at. He. He knows all the things. And you can share with them what's on your heart. And he wants to give you a peace, a peace that passes understanding and a peace honestly, that can only come from him. The world can't do it for you. He's got peace for your breaking heart. He is the peace over your anxiety today. He's peace in the midst of all that is unknown. All those question marks that hang out in front of you. Jesus himself said, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. God is here. I am so grateful that God's good plan for us is not only to be in relationship with him and love relationship with him, but to spill over and to have impact on the lives of those around us as well.

We had some fun opportunities leading up to and through the holidays to help some of those that we love. A couple of kids who I don't know why or how this worked out, but found themselves moving into their first homes right around the same time, was staggered a little bit, and one of them needed a little more work. You know, on the house. It was kind of the idea where there are no kids in the picture and this young marriage and things, hey, if we're ever going to like, it's not really flipping, but if we're going to put some time and effort and energy into it and get something out of it, you know, now might be the time. So we've spent our fair share more in the last three months than we have in the previous, you know, 20 years of getting down on the hands and knees and working on floors and bathrooms and toilets and plumbing and electrical and of all of all of those. Drywall to me is the worst. I don't mind the drywalling and the patching, but the sanding and all the prep. Then for the paint, that's a hard spot to be in.

Yeah, you have to be patient to do that. You're like very fixer upper. What did you learn all that.

I think from my dad. So he actually, as a hobby later in life became a general contractor just because he could. But he was always woodworking. He would work on cars and change the oil. And I think part of it is just him saying, here, hold the flashlight. And we accidentally learned how to change the oil or do the brakes because we were like, no, right here. Or he would explain what he was doing and just gave my brother and I both just a sense of just, what's the worst that can happen? And that was before YouTube, right? So it's kind of fun that more recently when my guys call and say, hey, dad, it's like, I know they've exhausted the YouTube option and they still they still need dad for a little bit of advice. It's funny, when they were moving, they'd be like, dad, be careful, you're going to hurt your back. I'm like, I can do some of this. but then I would find myself going, oh yeah, that hurts a little bit.

Not out loud, though, right?

There was one. There was one time, not long after we were helping the kids with the moving and the fixing up and things like that, that Tammy and I just crashed at home. So I put our feet up, you know, get your socks off and all that dust off. And she just made the comment, said, one day we'll be able to work on our own stuff again, because in helping the kids, we just sort of neglect, man, we've got a garage that really needs to get cleaned out. Part of what will help with that is them moving and having their own places to store.

Right, right.

Between the garage and stuff inside, a little bit of a pickup just after the holidays and all that. We had sort of shifted our priorities. And if we're not careful, we can find ourselves doing the same thing spiritually when we just get involved in ministry. I'm a doer, you know. And so if I see something that needs to be done, I'll hop in and I'll want to do that. But we can fall into that trap of doo doo doo and get busy helping others. And then, um, just maybe kind of neglect our own, you know, personal and spiritual well-being.

Yeah.

The matter of your own heart. Keeping me, making sure that you're receiving, you know, you're connected to the life source that you're abiding and that we're remaining. And, yeah, I love that God uses us to reach and touch other people, but I, I think probably my one of my worst fears in life is that somebody would need something from me and I would be dry. I would not be able to help. Yeah. And so part of the impetus for me and the encouragement for me to make sure that I'm taking care of my own heart, is because I want to be able to have something to offer.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you think about, you know, the kids again. I want to go and help and be able to contribute and do those things. Well, then sometimes, you know, at our physical house, the things that we need to do, some catching up on. And if it's just for a season, I think, you know, this is your busy season of ministry or something like that, but you can also run the risk of burning yourself out if you're always focused on others. I think of people in ministry, and maybe you've heard this too, Shawna, where you're so busy feeding others and feeding others. It's like, when am I going to get fed? Myself? When do I have a chance to do that?

Yeah. Yeah. It's so important to have a time where you're sitting with the Lord, being quiet and allowing him to just speak to your heart and fill you up. And for me, I'm a big fan of simple, repeatable patterns and practices that are put in place that are just like non-negotiables. Like, I need this in my life because it centers me. It keeps me who I am. So when? Because, you know, when situations get tense and we get pressed, sometimes we're disappointed at what spills out. But what spills out is whatever we put in. So I want the stuff that I put in to be the stuff that I want to spill out.

Modern day example I'm thinking of the pre-flight checklist, you know, for the safety. They talk about if there's an emergency, the oxygen mask may drop down and they say, and it makes perfectly good sense. At first I was like, why would you do that? Put your own mask on before you help other people. Well, think of it with Jesus and in Bible times. And what did he do to to put his relationship with the father first? Sometimes. In fact, often the Bible says and very often read through any one of the gospels and you'll see examples over and again of Jesus making time to get away and the mountain off the garden and things like that, to be with the father.

Yeah. And I think about Jesus doing that, pulling away. There's a temptation to think that Jesus needed that. But it just makes me wonder right now, in this moment, I'm thinking afresh, like it's just good. It's good and right. And and all throughout Jesus's life, he shows us what is good and right, how to live life every day on this planet in relationship with God the Father. And we do. We want to show up in other people's lives. We want to bless them. So let's make sure that we are drawing near to the heart of of the father. Just like Jesus, we think about what we love. In fact, we can't stop thinking about what we love. I remember when Dan and I first met after our first date that next morning. Like, I could not stop thinking about this guy. I was. I was taken. Like, I was he. I was.

His, like.

Smitten with the mitten, but not in.

The mitten. Yup yup yup.

I was just all in, right out the gate. But I remember the next day driving and being, like, stopping at a stop sign and thinking, oh, we stopped at a stop sign that looked just like this when I was with Dan last night. I mean, it's just silly.

You're bad.

Yes. Right. It's just silly. But, like, what we love, we think about and we can't stop thinking about. Psalm one says, blessed is the one. And then verse one goes on to talk about, you know, the things that we should not partake in. You know, the one who doesn't get involved in these things. But verse two says, whose delight is on the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. Blessed is the one, in other words, who thinks and just keeps thinking about God, About God's ways and and God's thoughts.

I think of Psalm 42 also in the song as the deer pants, you know, so my soul longs after you as the deer pants for streams of of water. You know, it's that's that's that longing and to have that kind of desire.

Yeah.

I think so often we, we when we have conversations about getting into God's Word or reading the Bible, it feels like there's this ought to and this should, rather than this pull of affection like my heart's longing for you as the deer longs for water. My my soul is longing to meet with the one who loves me, with the one who knows me. And then if you keep reading in Psalm one, it goes on to say that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers. And the message version says, always in blossom. The person who's thinking and keeps thinking about God, the person whose heart is in love with God, so much so that he's on our mind and he's on our heart as we go throughout the day. That person's always in blossom.

You just made me think of my grandma. My grandma Morris. Um, because at her church, my granddad was the pastor before he passed away. But most of my memories are are after he was gone. But every week on their bulletin, it was a green bulletin, Riverdale Baptist Church. And it had a picture of a tree with the first part of that verse, a tree planted by streams of water. And that's kind of all it said. And so those were early memories of like five, six, seven years old. But then we grow in our appreciation for the scriptures and to know what it means to just be planted. I want to I want to be that tree. I want to be planted.

Yeah. And then I mean the image. If you keep going with that image. Right? A tree that's planted by the the water, their roots are going down deep and constantly being refreshed, constantly being nourished. Now above the water, the elements, the circumstances can be difficult. The wind can be harsh. You know, the heat can be harsh, but there's something going on at a deeper level that's keeping them alive and keeping them growing. That's what the Word of God does in our lives when we're planted by streams of water. And, you know, verse one says, blessed. We're going to be blessed. So oh, man, my prayer this morning, my prayer for me. My prayer for you is God fan the flame of our affection for you. May we long for you. Like the deer longs for the water. May our minds be set on you. May our hearts be set on you. Not just first thing in the morning, but all throughout the day. We love you so much.

Thanks for letting Barry and Shawna walk the real life journey with you. The content from the Perry and Shawna podcast comes from their live show. Barry and Shawna. Mornings on 89.3 Moody Radio, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Reach out to us by texting 800 968 8930. And please subscribe.

Perry and Shawna Mornings

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