I know my world is about to be rocked. Gutted. Opened up and laid out. And I know that my initial reaction will be to put my hand out in caution. I will say,
“You! You stay right there. Don’t come any closer. Not one more step. I am not strong enough for you.”
My flesh and spirit go back and forth. Let truth in, my spirit requests. No thank you, I am quite comfortable here, my flesh concretely responds.
My first trip out of the country to experience poverty had me balled up inside and out like a fist clasped onto dear life. How could I witness poverty and not be destroyed from sorrow? The thought was too much to bear.
I knew I had to retrain how I was internally processing what my first mission trip would be like.
Retraining how I think has been so vital. I have noticed that my quiet, unspoken thoughts have been starting point for my words and then actions. And then how I filter everything I encounter.
I needed to retrain my thoughts so that when I saw poverty, when I knew I would need to kneel down in dirt and disease to encounter a child, I would do so without hesitation. I would be able to take in the most important thing, a precious child made in the image of the King.
So I opened the Bible. I needed a verse.
If there is one thing I have learned in my walk it is that the truth really does set you free. And the truth can be found in the Word and the truth must live in my heart.
So I can filter correctly. So I can respond lovingly. So dirt and disease and impossibilities all of a sudden are the backdrop. Not the star.
I memorized Isaiah 62:4 (ESV)
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
I will admit, it is an odd verse to memorize to help me retrain my internal thinking about poverty and why I need to do something. But when I first read this verse, my eyes welled up.
I couldn’t help but think how poverty can make a child feel forsaken, forgotten…and I could not help but want to sit with each child I encounter and let them know that the King finds great delight in who they are.
In fact He has named us, “My delight is in her.”
I carry it with me in my heart so that one day when my world is rocked without warning I can filter correctly, respond lovingly, run swiftly into the arms of the only One who can secure me.
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Genesis 29:20 “Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”
It seems like an odd verse for this post, but I serve because I love them. Most people look at me like I am a weirdo when I speak of my 5 sponsored children. “THAT IS A CARPAYMENT!” Exclaimed one of them. The money has little to do with it in my eyes. I am helping lead someone to Christ. I am training up a child in the way he should go. I am also impacting his siblings and parents. I have always been a giver and as a natural giver, I do not understand the flip side of the coin . . . the non-giver, but I do understand that each of us has different gifts and for that we should be thankful! Super blogpost as usual. I enjoy your articles immensely.
In these days of political correctness: These are the days when we need the message and preaching of Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekilel, John the Baptist, the Angels of Rev. 14:6-14; and of Jesus. (KJV)
This really makes me think about what I can do to help out as much as I can, you have shown me the true knowledge that god was so kind as to grant you.
I have a wordpress.com blog and can’t get the blog hop to work. Help?
Hi Sarah! We’ve re-added your blog hop entry at the end of this post to include a thumbnail. I tried to share the code for your blog here but WordPress isn’t letting me share it “as is” so I’ll e-mail it to you.
I couldn’t get an image to show up with my link… I think it was my own mistake, but I could use some help! My link is the “Conspiracy of Love” blog. Thanks!
I went ahead and added you Sonja.
I like these verses a lot, although they are specifically referring to a fast.
Isaiah 58…
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed[b] go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
I love how she says “Oh sing it to the One!” b/c she is so right 😉
II Corinthians 12:8-10 “8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” and my favorite song “Awesome God” they don’t get the lyrics perfect here but I don’t mind 😉 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWwHtwuzpKY
post http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWwHtwuzpKY
my favorite verse prompts me b/c I know often times when I think I am helping sometimes I am not. But God empowers me to truly help “when I am weak then I am strong”, God can use my feeble efforts or weak efforts, Awesome God b/c it empowers me and helps me to overcome difficulties and helps me realize God can do the impossible b/c He already has done the impossible as mentioned in the song in various miracles
What a great, thought-provoking assignment! And a perfect prompt after what I read in my mothering book this morning. :~)
1Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope,charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”