There are already a couple of things that God is doing in me as of starting this 40 day fast. But there is one in particular that I feel like sharing today.
Every so often, whether through television, radio, magazines, or simply walking through the hallways of my school, God drops a little "wake-up bomb" right in front of me. In these moments I am reminded that as I am out and about living my everyday life, there are people who are hurting and in desperate need of love and healing.
Before today, the most recent event was as I was watching a show called Addicted that follows drug and alcohol addicts getting help from an interventionist. Right before my eyes, the lives of a young couple were being destroyed by their use of drugs. My stomach was turning as I watched them injecting needle after needle of drugs into their system, crying each time as they did it. My eyes welled up as I realized their bondange and the broken existence they so vehemently hated, yet could not seem to escape.
The drug usage wasn't the part of the show that I found so disturbing, it was the fact that this was going on in two normal lives, one normal hotel room, one regular town.
"Who's to say this isn't happening nextdoor, down the street, in the life of one of my classmates?" I thought.
The reminder that there are hurting people all around me - even if they aren't dealing with addictions - hit me like a punch to the stomach. I laid in bed that night, embarassed by the oblivion I so contentedly abide in.
Today our church hosted day #2 of "Freely Give & Freely Receive," a time during which church members drop off anything from their homes that they haven't recently used or don't need, for people who do need it to take. They asked for volunteers to help out, so my best friend, brother and I went after church to be put to work.
Little did I know as I unloaded, sorted, and organized trashbag after trashbag of used clothing that I was about to have another "wake-up bomb" go off in my face. As I was putting some women's clothing in it's place, a woman walked up and began browsing the hangers. There was nothing that particularly stood out about her, she just looked like a frazzled mother toting around a newborn and toddler as she quietly scanned the rows of clothing for something that might fit.
She avoided eye contact as I passed behind her to put some clothes in boxes, and I sadly wondered if it was because she was embarassed. To confirm my suspicion, the little girl standing beside her mother boldly said, "Thank you for your help, but we don't need any help!" At first I thought she was speaking to me, and was searching for a response as I realized she was in fact speaking to another volunteer behind me who had been assigned to help the woman find anything she might need.
As the woman hurriedly bent over to shush her little girl, I felt a quiet voice speaking to me,
"You don't have to look any further than your own church parking lot to find people in desperate need of someone to simply love and care for them."
Immediately, my heart was convicted again of its self-centeredness. I get so caught up in asking God for opportunities to be His hands and feet that I overlook the people right under my nose who are longing for someone to come alongside and share their load. That woman walking into Wal-Mart beside me, the quiet girl walking past my house, the person sitting beside me at church.
Its as if we as Christians are looking at our world with binoculars, trying to spot someone in the far distance that might need us, and leaving the people standing right in front of us to remain out of focus.
Reading my chapter out of Matthew this evening, I saw a familiar verse,
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him, he will sit
on his throne in heavenly glory.
All the nations will be gathered before him,
and he will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right
and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.'"
~ Matthew 25:31-36
There is nothing glamorous about volunteering some time to unload trashbags and hang clothes on hangers, but then again there isn't anything glamorous about giving a stranger a drink. Sometimes I wonder if, when we get to heaven, we'll watch a replay of our lives. And how many times is Jesus going to point to that kid passing me in the hall and say, "That was me."
It's easy to ignore them as long as we're caught up in our busy schedules, but how easy will it be to try to explain "I was just really busy/tired/stressed that day," sitting with the King of Kings, my Savior? Recently I heard a chilling question:
"What have I done today that impacted eternity?"
It's a question I want to be able to ask myself every night before bed, and answer with joyful confidence. I don't want to pass by opportunities, I want to be a person whose eyes are opened on a spiritual level to what's going on in the people all around me.
"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."
~C.S. Lewis (The Weight of Glory)
No comments:
Post a Comment