World Day of Social Justice: To Save His People

I’ve been learning stories. Re-learning stories. Repeating stories. Banging bold right up into stories.

My pastor, he’s telling the story of Nehemiah. The story of a man who had great influence and how God used him to help His people.

And there are the stories of Esther, Joseph, David, Abraham, and Peter. Countless others.

They all have a string shooting straight through their lives pulling them together. They came from places of insignificance to places of great influence.

And at some point God called on them. He called them to save His people.

Always weaving through is the story of Jesus. Who had no place to call home. Whose birth was a scandal. Whose crib was of hay. And God lifted Him up.

God called on Him to save many lives.

I can’t help but be here in the Dominican Republic exchanging my usual day’s routine for big smiles and stories that cut through everything this world was trying to offer me.

But I know I have influence. And I don’t think influence means a big platform or royalty or fame.

Being born in America, eating every day, all day, any day, being able to read and write, going to university…

If you can say yes to any of these you are the minority in this world. You have influence.

But more than anything, you have influence if, inside you, you are burning bright with the Holy Spirit. His mission is the same as the Father’s. His influence more than that of any man.

The Lord shows me time and time again that it’s not about feeling guilty. It’s not even necessarily about selling everything. It’s a humble acceptance. To know, He’ll call on me. He’ll use me to save His people.

I’m not the only one who thinks this, Joseph said it too. He said it twice at the end of his story,

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” (Gen 50:20, NIV)

To save the lives of many people.

Bob Goff wrote about it too,

“And if you think about it, the reason God chose Moses was to save many lives. And the same goes for Jonah and Peter, all the apostles, and Jesus. And us, too, for that matter. We were all meant to save many lives.”

Today is the World Day of Social Justice.

For the United Nations, the pursuit of social justice for all is at the core of their global mission to promote development and human dignity. And this year the theme is ending human trafficking and forced labour.

Take a moment today to ask God when He’ll call on you? He’ll do it. He’ll use you to save many lives.

Check out the blog posts from this week where our bloggers share countless stories of how God called on them.

Can I suggest that sponsorship is one way to end human trafficking and forced labor for one child? To help break into an otherwise dark and unjust place with shards of lights that will refuse to be shut out.

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