Have you ever seen a life changed by $12? I have.
There is a trend in our world these days where major international corporations are spending more and more of their advertising on “social” issues. This Christmas we saw as a major drink retailer told us that we should buy THEIR product because they are going to spend more money than you or I will see in our lifetimes to help the Polar Bears of the Arctic. The commercials show the mama bear’s struggle to survive among the melting ice cap.
It isn’t made clear exactly HOW sending our money to them will reverse the global warming responsible for those 2 little cubs struggle, But, we get a warm fuzzy feeling, and the big drink company gets to look like heroes. Last year, I would have thought, “oh that is nice”, and proceeded to buy that drink because it is what I usually buy, but feel just a little better knowing I was making a ‘difference’. I mean, who is Laura, and how can my $12.00 make a difference to anyone? So if by buying my usual product, I can contribute to the greater good… heck why not? Right?
That was the old me…this year, the new me has to resist the urge to scream at the movie screen “that is great for the polar bears, but what about all the children starving right this moment”. You see, in November I spent some time in Nepal, and we came face to face with people in dire straits- Poverty unlike anything we would ever encounter here in North America. We walked streets of a city where for the price of a beautiful meal in Canada, a pastor can feed his family for a month. In some senses, it is wonderful to know that just a little contribution from my pocket can make an exponentially larger impact than the same amount here. And yet, no matter how much you give, there will never be enough. You could drop suitcases full of Rupees from the sky, and somehow, this sin-sick world we live in would find a way to still destroy lives. Addiction, pain, poverty, corruption, caste systems and a bad economy always seem to win out.
During our travels, I was able to keep somewhat objective about what we were seeing. In an attempt to not become crippled by it, I held myself at arm’s length, keeping my heart safe from a burden that seemed too big. We discussed the theological response to poverty and pain, we debated different ways to assist, and whether the things that we did do were beneficial long-term or not. In all this though, I was untouched in the deepest places of my heart. Don’t misunderstand, I yearned to do more, to have more to give, mostly though, I wanted to see my brothers and sisters in Christ be able to navigate through what they were seeing. I wasn’t all that concerned about my lack of brokenness, I chalked it up to “its not my gifting”. I see that others have a deep and abiding passion to reach into the lives of the poor, the broken, and the orphaned and bring love, food and prayer to their garbage strewn alleyways.
I thought it wasn’t my gifting……And then Bikash stole my heart. One little boy, looking wistfully into the window of a café stole away all sense that this was someone else’s responsibility. Right there before me was “the least of these”. I wouldn’t have been able to identify that in the moment, I just knew I had to act. I got him something to eat out of that café, and began to talk to him. I learned that he is one of the “lucky” ones. He and his brother work at night picking up trash to sell. They have parents who love them, and a home, and they get to go to school during the day. More than some, there is hope for these little boys. Life is brutally hard, but there is hope. God did a work in me that night, on the streets of Kathmandu. I gave him some money so that he didn’t have to work that night ($5.00), prayed for him, and sent him on his way hopefully to spend a warm safe night at home.
Bikash received about $12.00 worth of food and cash that night, and I walked away a different person.
In the moment, I felt like I had done the right thing, I felt as though God had been glorified, and that was our goal. What I couldn’t know was that something fundamental had changed in me.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe that God ‘sees the little sparrow fall’ and cares about its wounds. I know that the plight of the Polar Bear and what we are doing to this creation that He has entrusted us with likely breaks his heart. I am glad that more and more companies are doing responsible things… and yet how much credit do we need to give the company who ‘sacrifices’ less than .02% of their ADVERTISING budget (not even revenues) to help creatures in the north?
I am convinced that given the choice of working on behalf of the Polar Bears, or fighting for the good of humanity, people should get my $12.00…every time!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Weakness & Mercy
No one likes Monday... I don’t really either, and yet it is wonderful!
I LOVE anything that gives me a fresh opportunity. A new school year, a new house, a new daytimer with nothing written in it yet. It represents to me freshness and opportunities. I tend to be a sweeping changes type person. When I get…. I will…. Each time I looked ahead to my leave from overseas, I would imagine a wonderful time in which I would get up every morning early, do devotions and then run… come home to a healthy breakfast and a new outlook. Inevitably, my craving for greasy pizza would take over and I was done! Then again, toward the end of my vacation, the same thing… I will change my life by changing my circumstances etc.
Lamentations 3:21
This I recall to my mind therefore have I hope.
22It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. -KJV
The good news is that a fresh week or day or year or month DOES hold unlimited opportunities. Yes, there are realities of past experiences, there are circumstances that we cannot just turn the calendar and have them disappear. And yet, we serve a God whose mercy is NEW EVERY MORNING. That means… each day God has put aside all that went before it. The mistakes and sins are as if it never happened in the eyes of God. Each day I have the opportunity to make a completely Fresh Start. It is us who tie ourselves to our past.
PSALM 103: 9-14
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
HE REMEBERS that we are dust. How freeing is that? We have these expectations of ourselves to meet the expectations of those around us. Yes, the calling is HIGH. And yet, the one who called us is well aware of our weakness.
The Cross was the answer for our weakness. God knew that in our “dustiness” that we would never be able to live up to the standard.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
So we turn to God, not in our strength, but in our weakness. It is then, that God says “OK… my dusty child… lets work on this. In MY strength. You don’t have to do it alone. “
Our world has a MASSIVE aversion to weakness. We have become a society obsessed with not showing weakness. We are all walking around hoping to hide our weaknesses from one another, and in doing so, when we see weaknesses in each other, our reactions are so strong because if I can see your weakness, perhaps you can see mine. So, like wounded animals, we attack each other in our weakest moments.; gossip, judgment and almost every reality TV show is about exposing one another’s weakness.
I think that God loves to expose our weaknesses. Not to leave us vulnerable to attack, but in order to show us where He is standing and fighting on our behalf.
Recently I travelled with some amazing friends. Two weeks in exotic, challenging situations. Inevitably, weaknesses were exposed. One of our friends- who is about as tough as they come- inadvertently revealed a ‘concern for the safety’ of suspension bridges. His words spoke of his “concern for the safety of….” but his face, demeanour and reluctance told us another story. He was fearful. It was a chink in his armour that was so incongruent with the rest of him, that it was almost comical. As his friends we had a choice to make. With some good-natured ribbing we ventured across leaving him on the other side to face his’ concern’. We didn’t make a big deal about it. We simply carried on our way, knowing that he would get across the bridge safely – he just needed some space. Throughout the trip we were faced with more than a few opportunities to see each other’s weaknesses. And I came to a discovery…
IT IS AN HONOUR TO COVER ONE ANOTHER’S WEAKNESS!
When you love someone as much as we love each other, and are seeking the best for one another, it is not a problem to cover each other. From motion sickness, to financial weakness, to language challenges in a foreign nation, we each had weaknesses that surfaced and in response the group brought its unique gifting to each situation, covered the weakness, and all were better for it. How much more… God?
Matthew 12:12How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!
Luke 11:13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 12:24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Luke 12:28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
Romans 5:9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Romans 5:10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Romans 5:15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Romans 5:17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
I want to entrust God with my weaknesses. I want to be someone who takes God at His word, that His mercies are new every morning. I want to move through my day each day knowing that God has removed my transgressions from me. I want to live in the shadow of the cross moment by moment, by moment.
So next time you turn the page in your daytimer and see the freshness, and remeber that He remembers we are DUST! And embrace Monday!
I LOVE anything that gives me a fresh opportunity. A new school year, a new house, a new daytimer with nothing written in it yet. It represents to me freshness and opportunities. I tend to be a sweeping changes type person. When I get…. I will…. Each time I looked ahead to my leave from overseas, I would imagine a wonderful time in which I would get up every morning early, do devotions and then run… come home to a healthy breakfast and a new outlook. Inevitably, my craving for greasy pizza would take over and I was done! Then again, toward the end of my vacation, the same thing… I will change my life by changing my circumstances etc.
Lamentations 3:21
This I recall to my mind therefore have I hope.
22It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. -KJV
The good news is that a fresh week or day or year or month DOES hold unlimited opportunities. Yes, there are realities of past experiences, there are circumstances that we cannot just turn the calendar and have them disappear. And yet, we serve a God whose mercy is NEW EVERY MORNING. That means… each day God has put aside all that went before it. The mistakes and sins are as if it never happened in the eyes of God. Each day I have the opportunity to make a completely Fresh Start. It is us who tie ourselves to our past.
PSALM 103: 9-14
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
HE REMEBERS that we are dust. How freeing is that? We have these expectations of ourselves to meet the expectations of those around us. Yes, the calling is HIGH. And yet, the one who called us is well aware of our weakness.
The Cross was the answer for our weakness. God knew that in our “dustiness” that we would never be able to live up to the standard.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
So we turn to God, not in our strength, but in our weakness. It is then, that God says “OK… my dusty child… lets work on this. In MY strength. You don’t have to do it alone. “
Our world has a MASSIVE aversion to weakness. We have become a society obsessed with not showing weakness. We are all walking around hoping to hide our weaknesses from one another, and in doing so, when we see weaknesses in each other, our reactions are so strong because if I can see your weakness, perhaps you can see mine. So, like wounded animals, we attack each other in our weakest moments.; gossip, judgment and almost every reality TV show is about exposing one another’s weakness.
I think that God loves to expose our weaknesses. Not to leave us vulnerable to attack, but in order to show us where He is standing and fighting on our behalf.
Recently I travelled with some amazing friends. Two weeks in exotic, challenging situations. Inevitably, weaknesses were exposed. One of our friends- who is about as tough as they come- inadvertently revealed a ‘concern for the safety’ of suspension bridges. His words spoke of his “concern for the safety of….” but his face, demeanour and reluctance told us another story. He was fearful. It was a chink in his armour that was so incongruent with the rest of him, that it was almost comical. As his friends we had a choice to make. With some good-natured ribbing we ventured across leaving him on the other side to face his’ concern’. We didn’t make a big deal about it. We simply carried on our way, knowing that he would get across the bridge safely – he just needed some space. Throughout the trip we were faced with more than a few opportunities to see each other’s weaknesses. And I came to a discovery…
IT IS AN HONOUR TO COVER ONE ANOTHER’S WEAKNESS!
When you love someone as much as we love each other, and are seeking the best for one another, it is not a problem to cover each other. From motion sickness, to financial weakness, to language challenges in a foreign nation, we each had weaknesses that surfaced and in response the group brought its unique gifting to each situation, covered the weakness, and all were better for it. How much more… God?
Matthew 12:12How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!
Luke 11:13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 12:24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Luke 12:28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
Romans 5:9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Romans 5:10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Romans 5:15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Romans 5:17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
I want to entrust God with my weaknesses. I want to be someone who takes God at His word, that His mercies are new every morning. I want to move through my day each day knowing that God has removed my transgressions from me. I want to live in the shadow of the cross moment by moment, by moment.
So next time you turn the page in your daytimer and see the freshness, and remeber that He remembers we are DUST! And embrace Monday!
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