Are we trapped?

This photo is going around on Facebook today.

I saw this and of course felt moved. Sweet little tiny, malnourished hand! Oh! But something didn't sit well in my spirit. The title is "Perspective."

And the words on the image disturb me  as well. "You hate your life, while some people dream of having your life."

I think the intended message is: "You are whining about your life, but other people WANT your life." So buck up and be happy. You privileged thing, you. You have so much, be happy! Stop your whining!

Is that the point?

Something bothers me. What is it? I think it's the ethnocentric angle of it all: everyone wants to be where I am.

Really?

Have you seen the true joy during worship on the face of a child in a prison in Africa? Have you felt the electric joy that pervades the underground church in China? The utter reliance upon God in South Korea?

Why do we believe our lives and culture are superior?

We greatly struggled with taking an orphaned child from his home culture and raising him as an American. But we left that on the table when we realized that we were his last hope (second to a childhood spent in an institution) and we believe that having a family in another culture is better than orphanage life in his own.

But this is not what I sat down to write about.

Back to the picture above.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine this week. She said, "I really think our wealth actually traps us."

I think she's completely right.

If you don't have a boat, you don't have to worry about how to pay for the license, the beer for the next weekend party or the insurance rider in case someone sues you for slipping on the deck.

There is a genuine simplicity to life in underdeveloped countries.

I have seen, known and loved Christians in the underground in China. They do not wish they were American. They merely pray to be faithful to the task God has called them to right where they are. And incredibly, they do not even pray for their persecution to be lifted, but rather that they be made stronger and be drawn closer to God.

How often is that my prayer? Don't I whine about my "hardships" rather than pray to have them train me for righteousness? Is it possible that my luxuries are trapping me into a self-centered existence and I am missing out on the joys of serving others?

I have thought many times that our financial struggles have been a hardship, when in reality, they are a GIFT FROM GOD. I am not so entranced in my possessions that I would not give them up to live somewhere other than where I am. I certainly do love our camera and computer...but stuff is really just stuff and since I'm not dripping with diamonds I think I'm a little more free to just walk away. To go.

A lot more difficult when you are financially comfortable.

Remember that rich man in Luke 12 that Jesus told the story about? He had so much wealth his "problem" was where to store it all! When you have a lot of wealth, you have to worry about ways to protect it. It might be taken from you--or the bottom might fall out of the market.

When you are living in an impoverished country, you merely praise God for the rice and beans in your bowl. You may not know where it came from, but you know God was behind it. You don't know where your food tomorrow will come from, but you trust God to give it. And He does. (Sometimes through people like US!)

There's a certain freedom, intense reliance upon God and joy that can come from that kind of life. I have seen it on their faces and I have heard it in their voices.

I think the average American is indeed "trapped" by wealth. We have such an abundance that we don't know where to store it all. Sadly, Jesus called this man in Luke chapter 12 a fool and told him his life would be demanded of him that very night! Panic! His life was OVER? What? So...he gathered all that STUFF for nothing?!

What are you gathering? Are you trapped by your own wealth? Are you able to see there is a world that waits for your involvement? Your love? Your presence?

What if the caption on the picture above said something like, "There's are world waiting for your touch," or something that motivated people to get outside of themselves and impact another life? (Well, I would have shared it on my own Facebook wall if it had!)

There is no doubt that when Jesus told the rich young ruler in Luke 18 to give away all his possessions and come follow Him, that the man was trapped by his stuff. It happens. A lot.

Do we have to give everything away to be un-trapped? I think that is going to be on an individual basis. I don't think the point is if you have to or not, but is your heart WILLING to lay your life-long collections, your summer house, your golf habit, your children's college fund on the altar for God?

It's about your heart. He MAY ask it of you. He will probably ask something of you that you hadn't thought of. The question remains: Are you so committed to Him that you'll give anything?

The rewards are true joy in this life and in the life to come.

I'm in. Are you?

I have Doubters.

Yes. It's true. I have people in my life who doubt. They doubt me. They doubt God. They wonder if they should say something. "What if..." they formulate their questions that stem from their doubt. "...you don't have enough money," "...the judges rule against you," "...you break that little boy's heart because you can't get him home?"


On the spot, I'm not very good. Answers rarely pop into my head, but their questions mull. 


They roll around. And around.


My God is MIGHTY. My God loves. His very definition is LOVE. His heart breaks for the fatherless. The orphan makes Him cry. Wouldn't these children remain homeless and family-less if we followed the fears of the doubters? (I really should pose that question to them!)


Let's take a quick look at what God's Word says about these beloved children who are left fatherless in this world: 

Deuteronomy 10:18
 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien giving him food and clothing.

Deuteronomy 14:29

The fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice...

Deuteronomy 27:19 
“Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Psalm 10:14

You [God] are the helper of the fatherless.


Psalm 10:17-18
 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed

Psalm 68:5-6
 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. He places the lonely in families.

Psalm 82:3 
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

Psalm 146:9
 The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless...

Isaiah 1:17
 Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

James 1:27
 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good. 
And what does the LORD require of you? 
To act justly and to love mercy  and to walk humbly with your God.

WOW.


That little tour of Scripture was pretty impacting. God's Word is true. It reflects His heart. And it's abundantly clear that He loves the fatherless and He wants us to too.


So...perhaps it comes down to a question of FAITH.


Do we (you fill in your name here!) have the FAITH to believe that God will accomplish His passions, purpose and will in OUR lives? I think we quickly want to answer yes. But slow down a bit, do you R-E-A-L-L-Y mean YES?????


Faith says, "I'll adopt even though I don't have the money upfront." And right now it's saying, "We'll fly to Uganda using up our adoption money and trust Him to provide the rest when we need it."


Faith says, "Yes," when asked to adopt a child with a special need.


Faith says, "I may not have what it takes right now, but I believe He'll supply all my needs just as He promises."


Faith says,  "I'll do whatever it takes," knowing full well that the path may be full of great obstacles and  be asked to go through extreme difficulties. But one also knows the strength does not lie in oneself, but in the God they trust.


What IS the cost of obedience anyway? Let's go back to the book and just see:

Luke 9:23
 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

John 12:24
 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Hmmmm.


 So, just because this is HARD it doesn't mean I'm supposed to stop? 


NO!!!


And as Brian so often reminds me, "Everyone wants to have miracles in their lives. But not many people are willing to be in the place to NEED a miracle." He's so right. Who wants to seek out being desperate???? 


No one wants to be desperate. No one wants to be uncomfortable. Yet it is in that very state that we experience God as our Rescuer, our Healer, our Provider. So...is that worth it to you? Is obedience to God--a very act that will put you in a DESPERATE state--worth knowing your God as MIGHTY? Are you willing to exchange some comfort for knowing God better? 


So, dear doubters, I say to you: I have no idea what we'll do in these "if" situations you create for me. But I know that MY GOD DOES, and that's good enough. Yep. It is. And I guess for you, well, you'll just have to watch and see.