Week 1 Reflections
We sing things like "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the water." But when it comes down to it, do we really mean it? Would you be willing if God asked, to deplete your retirement funds to pay off your debt, sell virtually all that you own, and pick up your family to move to a country that is hostile to missionaries in order to spread love in Jesus' name? Would you be willing to pay one month of rent for a single mother of three, who has no income and speaks no English? Would you by a couch for a lady who had to sell hers to help make ends meet?
I don't ask those questions to provoke guilt, but because they have made me question the size of my faith. Of course, the natal answer to those hypothetical questions is, "Yes, of course I would, if God wanted me to." However, none of those questions are hypothetical. The last two are very real needs that I have come across in meeting new friends. And the first question is a picture of the life that my parents have led.
See, I'm struck by all of the hurt and suffering I've come across here in the US. Here I am, thinking that I'm sacrificing by sharing a bedroom and making due without wifi, a TV, a microwave, and a few other basic things. Yet, I'm surrounded by people here in the US who don't have money to run their AC (in Georgia), furnish their apartments, or meet other basic needs. It's heartbreaking. How have I been going about life without being convicted to help?
So here's where the hands and feet of God need to step in. We have so much. Luke 12:48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." I firmly believed that we are required to help provide for the less fortunate. It is not a request, it is an expectation. I've been reading "Kisses from Katie," where this 18 year old girl moves to Uganda and ends up adopting 14 little girls. Now I don't know about anyone else, but my first reaction was, "That's crazy." However, Katie felt as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. She believed that she was just fulfilling what God had commanded her to do.
Imagine if we all lived with just 1/14 of the faith that Katie does. I'd dare to say that we would have forged an army to eradicate poverty and show reckless love in Jesus' name. And trust me, I'm not any further along in this journey than the next person. I'm just a girl who was hopelessly lost but now found, trying to share the love that I have been given.
I don't ask those questions to provoke guilt, but because they have made me question the size of my faith. Of course, the natal answer to those hypothetical questions is, "Yes, of course I would, if God wanted me to." However, none of those questions are hypothetical. The last two are very real needs that I have come across in meeting new friends. And the first question is a picture of the life that my parents have led.
See, I'm struck by all of the hurt and suffering I've come across here in the US. Here I am, thinking that I'm sacrificing by sharing a bedroom and making due without wifi, a TV, a microwave, and a few other basic things. Yet, I'm surrounded by people here in the US who don't have money to run their AC (in Georgia), furnish their apartments, or meet other basic needs. It's heartbreaking. How have I been going about life without being convicted to help?
So here's where the hands and feet of God need to step in. We have so much. Luke 12:48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." I firmly believed that we are required to help provide for the less fortunate. It is not a request, it is an expectation. I've been reading "Kisses from Katie," where this 18 year old girl moves to Uganda and ends up adopting 14 little girls. Now I don't know about anyone else, but my first reaction was, "That's crazy." However, Katie felt as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. She believed that she was just fulfilling what God had commanded her to do.
Imagine if we all lived with just 1/14 of the faith that Katie does. I'd dare to say that we would have forged an army to eradicate poverty and show reckless love in Jesus' name. And trust me, I'm not any further along in this journey than the next person. I'm just a girl who was hopelessly lost but now found, trying to share the love that I have been given.
Comments
Post a Comment