I have the pleasure of working with an incredible team of believers to better the lives of people living in Haiti. It is also an opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ.
One of my jobs is to prepare materials to inform the community of ways to help if someone desires to do so. This past week I’ve poured over videos and pictures taken from teams of people who have been there, on the ground, in the center of the lives.
With a click of my mouse, I froze an image. My computer screen became a reality for me. And as I perused the paused video picture, my heart paused as well. It was an image of a home. Not by our standards, but a home, with a mom and dad, three children, and a grandmother. It seemed to be put together from items you and I throw away. Items this family had salvaged from I do not know where. The walls were draped in plastic, old blankets, sheets somehow affixed to tall poles. Hand-made bricks covered some parts and the roof existed with pieced together materials such as rusted car parts, scrap metal, and rubber tires. The floors dirt. The entranceway secured by what appeared to be shoe-laces. It was their house, made into a home, and the welcoming smiles of the family told me they were proud of it.
The home belonged to a pastor, living in Haiti, working for God’s Kingdom, blessing a nation with truth.
I zoomed in and out. What I was looking for, I cannot tell you; but, this is what I saw.
God calls us to give Him our ALL. Someone argued with me recently about the favor of God. I do not deny that living in the United States is a favor of God, that the blessings of a beautiful home, car, grocery stores, internet, and worldly possessions is so comfortable, safe, and frankly, wonderful. But is it favor?
I zoomed into this pastor’s face. The light of his eyes flowed through my body giving me a realization of where Christ dwells. While we may consider ourselves “highly favored” by God because we have so many wonderful blessings – do our eyes shine like his? Can we say with confidence we ourselves are living our lives, giving our all?
Unrestricted, my tears flowed. It wasn’t that I was sad for this pastor living in those conditions; it was that I was sad for us. Sad that we care more about texting than talking to one another. Sad that we complain about heat and waiting in the Drive-thru line. We long for new kitchen counter tops and wood floors. Discussions about plush luxury automobiles, the latest gadgets, designer clothes, and how we look when compared to our neighbor. We frolic in our busyness, while hypocritically complaining about our schedules.
The reality of his life and ours? I wonder who truly has the favor of God? I wonder how God compares what I do on a daily basis and what this pastor does on a daily basis.
The question echoes in my mind, how much greater are we called to do with the resources and blessings we’ve been given in order that we may give of our ALL fully to God’s Kingdom?
Luke 12:48, “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.”
