I think that over the last couple months
the Lord has been preparing my heart for the last few days
I've been in a whirlwind of thoughts
and it all came to ahead this morning
lets start back at the end of January
our Women's Bible Study at church decided to study through the book of Habakkuk
ever studied it?
neither had i
i blogged about it, briefly, a while ago
It talks of God's holiness and justice
His intolerance of injustice
of wickedness
but it also talks of His patience
His mercy
His sovereignty
His goodness
and the good news that Faith in Jesus Christ brings righteousness and life
Now, don't get me wrong
I know all these things, but a good reminder is always necessary
And it was very necessary for these things to stay fresh in my mind this week
Because as we made it through chapter 3 on Saturday
one of the questions asked was
"what other images from (nature, warfare, or whatever) [evoke awe for God's mighty works]"?
ok nature...no problem
but warfare?
initially i crossed the word out
I'm not even considering that
but I couldn't stop thinking about it
I started thinking about my friend's trip to Africa and how she got to talk with a women
who had her lips cut from her face by the rebels
and still she praised God
is your response WOW?
that's the AWE
that's the AWE
He's sovereign!
He brings SUPERNATURAL COMFORT and JOY when none seems possible
He brings ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE THAT LOVE HIM
Ok, are you tracking with me?
there's more
Ok, so the weekend continues
And I had read Diary of a Crazy White Woman on Friday
and she mentions The Hunger Games
(which i read through over the last couple months)
and the parallels between The Capitol and America
and Panem and the rest of the world
ok, that messed me up
mostly, because I didn't even notice it
If you haven't read the books you're confused
in short
the Capitol is this utopia of sorts
and the people who live there are completely unaware of the
oppression and starvation the rest of Panem is facing
they're culture revolves around fashion and possessions,
and gluttony is a completely norm
see why it messed me up?
I can't believe i missed that
it gets worse
there's a part in the book where Katniss goes to The Capitol
and in an interview gets asked what her favorite food is.
this girl hasn't tasted much flavorful, rich food
and she replies "the stew with the plums"
and everyone laughs, and chuckles
because its one of their favorites too
I LIVED THIS MOMENT ON SUNDAY EVENING
Our church was absolutely blessed by the performance of the Children of the World Choir
They are a group of 16 orphans who are apart of the World Help Organization
Who get to come to the U.S. for 10 months and tour in the purpose of raising money to drill wells in their countries which will open communication to share the gospel,
and get more sponsers for orphans just like them
but they're not just orphans, they have names
Asmita, Ronald, Andy, Irene, Nabin, Jamaecah, Florence, Lideff,
Madan, Wilmar, Des, Jeremiah, Fred, Roshi, Lydia, and Roxan
they come from, the Philippines, Napal, and Uganda
and the sweetest smiles you ever saw
and during the performance, one of them was asked, "what is your favorite food in America?"
to which they answered "pizza" and everyone laughed and chuckled, because we all love pizza too
And it hit me,
so hard,
I am one of those capitol people,
who live in my utopia of pizza and clothes,
completely oblivious to the world around me
I wanted to do something
do something
give money
sell my stuff
my worthless worthless stuff
I was down, a little depressed even
because I was so disgusted with my circumstances
i didn't feel blessed
I felt shame
and the verse that came to mind
I was consumed with somehow doing something to help these kids
I might not have been able to give them my home for the night
but I was determined to spend time with them
and I did get to spend time with them briefly on Monday
some of us took them Miniature Golfing
and I think they had a lot of fun
but it wasn't over for me
God was working on my heart
it doesn't end here
I will continue to help
I will pray for each of these by name
I may not be able to see them again
but I will pray for them
over and over and over and over
But God wasn't finished with me yet
on Tuesday evening (I think)
Invisible Children launched their new campaign
KONY 2012 on facebook
and I watched their video
their video to make Joseph Kony, very famous
to arrest him and help stop the wickedness he continues to do in Africa
so I reposted
i do want the wickedness to stop
its not fair that Kony continues to do unjust acts
and continues to get away with it
and an evil thought crossed my mind
I'm going out on a limb here, telling you
because I am beyond ashamed
this was it
i am going to pray
but I really want to actually do something too
forgive me, Lord
for the evil thought that prayer isn't doing something
Prayer is a power
and its power is greater than anything I could ever do
for me to belittle it, like that, is absolutely shameful
And this morning, a missionary friend of ours posted
about the KONY 2012 campaign,
its a great post.
Not saying the campaign is a bad thing,
but reminding us, its not a Christian campaign.
We need to remember scriptures like,
Psalm 82:3, Isaiah 1:17, Deut. 10:17-18, James 1:27.
True justice comes from the Lord (Prov. 29:26),
and lets not get distracted from sharing the gospel.
Lets not give more credit to the power of the media, than to the power of prayer.
Seriously, read this blog, given by a man who lives and serves in that very place; Uganda.
And in the end, everything came full circle.
Right back to scripture
right back to Habakkuk
there is major injustice happening in our world
some major injustice has happened to the people and kids of Uganda
some major injustice has happened to orphans
to Asmita, Ronald, Andy, Irene, Nabin, Jamaecah, Florence, Lideff,
Madan, Wilmar, Des, Jeremiah, Fred, Roshi, Lydia, and Roxan
BUT
Hab 1:13,
Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And you cannot look on wickedness with favor"
Our God does not turn His face to evil
He is a Holy God, He is a just God
What can I do?
share the gospel
Hab. 2:4
"the righteous will live by his faith"
live the gospel
Jam. 1:27
"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
pray for suffering, pray for the spreading of the gospel
Jam. 5:13, 16
"Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray."
"the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much"
What about the bad guys? what about Kony?
and as God said it about the Chaldeans,
he will say it those like them, "but they will be held guilty." Hab. 1:11
And, so as much as I do want Kony stopped and captured, my hope does not depend on it.
Sure, I'll help make the man famous, and I will jump for joy at his arrest.
But my heart will sing praises even more for each soul that is reached for Christ
I will help sponser kids who live in poverty, and I will help raise money to dig wells for water
but it is with the sharing of His Living Water that my joy will overflow
And I am determined to not be like a person of the capitol,
oblivious to world around them, consumed by the things in their utopia
Thank you, Lord for this lesson
for Your grace and forgiveness
for Your mercy and justice
This post wasn't for readers, but a preaching to myself
that it will be here for me to look back on,
when i will most surely need this reminder again.
No comments:
Post a Comment