Yesterday I read of a young woman who I knew who made bad choices and was in jail and would most likely be there for a while. I read of a historic heroin bust in the state of New Hampshire. They are connected in the simple fact that people are stepping up to pray for the goodness of God to be rolled out in New England (And I am sure in other regions, as well.)

The great part is that lives will be changed as people pray for the goodness of God. The downside is that lives will be changed because they played on “the other side” of the fence. Simple choices of getting high often move towards bigger choices, which not only have to do with the drugs but with the monies required to keep the train going.

Frankly I really do not know of too many people who have not been affected by the drug issues in our region. Recently I attended the funeral of a young person who died from an overdose. I get the issue. They were me. I was the guy in the hospital at least once a month. Then some 30 plus years ago I turned off the drugs in my life.

The only true answer to addiction is God and God alone. Folks may not realize it but His goodness is upon them.

Goodness. The quality of being good.

God’s moving is coupled with His nature and His character. Lovingkindness, love, making things whole, restoration, compassionate and graceful. God shares what are the fruits of His Spirit (Gal. 5:22), telling you this is who He is. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Yes, these will appear in His people, but they will appear in them because they already are in Him. God’s goodness in New England as it rolls out in to the streets and communities will appear like that.

And some people will be caught up on the wrong side of the rolling out.

The light is growing greater in New England. Increasing in its brightness. Penetrating deep into the darkness.

As we prayed last night I saw Marigolds appearing. I saw the black and white seeds carrying around the region. Marigolds are natural bug control. And I saw them appearing in our church fellowship.

Last night one of my dreams was I dreamed I was on an old plantation in New Orleans. (My family has that history.) I found my grandson and his young friend picking up what I though were toy rifles, but in actuality they were real. They were armed. Meanwhile this woman who was the lady of the house was watching her world of crime and evil crumble. She kept talking to me each time she saw me never connecting the two things; that my appearance had effects on her “business”. Then one day it began to rain. She came in off the balcony and “quit”. Her life changed towards God.

New Orleans is known as the big easy. Why is that relevant? Because in New England we often labor “hard” all the while saying God’s got this. It is time to believe God’s got this and enjoy the “big easy”. The relevance of the children being armed I truly believe is indicative of a move of stealth, where children come in under the radar changing their communities. They are armed with His goodness.

You may read this and feel conflicted. You may be concerned about what that looks like. Who is on “what side” and where is the line drawn. You may not know how to relax, always feeling like you have your foot on the gas pedal. That is okay. Sometimes things take time to be absorbed. Recognized.

In business I often speak of a roll out. It can be a new product moving into market. It can be the replacement of technology or assets over time. New replacing old.

Yet when I thinking of God rolling out, I am reminded of my youth. In our neighborhood, we had large meadows and farmland. The older farmer made the decision to sell a large amount of that to a developer to put homes in. One of the nearby fields had been a large hillside. They cut into that hillside and soon there was bank of gravel hundreds of feet long that ran from the top down to the now flat area. But rains and snow would cause that hillside to move. Each storm would leave more and more of the hillside at the bottom. As children we climbed this 45 degree hillside. And if you lost momentum or your foot sipped, you would sense that you were getting ready to roll. Little grains of sand would trickle down, followed by larger rocks and soon you would be rolling down the hillside (Or running if your hope was to stay ahead of the avalanche of dirt.) A roll out that begins small and gains momentum, gradually gathering a lot.

God is light. Light travels at 186,000 plus miles an hour. Come on. Hurry up! Yet God is held in vessels called people. Where we go, He goes. His roll out in New England is going to include you. His brightness may well draw from across the nations to this small geographical region known as New England. But it will be about people.

My yoke is EASY. My burden is LIGHT!

People are our business. Our only business.