Back to reality...

Back to reality. My reality. What does that really mean? I've just returned from a third world country back to my safe and comfortable home, where the refrigerator is full, the pantry is stocked. We have 2 cars in the driveway that can take us wherever we want to go and enough money for fuel. Our daughter has more than enough clothes to wear and she always has shoes. Clean, safe water flows from our tap whenever we want it. Our doctors office is just a few minutes away should one of us become ill and we have health insurance that we usually complain about. I returned to work the Monday I got back, to my stable, comfortable job where I collect a paycheck every two weeks. This is my reality. But, It turns out, this is not reality for most of the world.


Every single day, about 925 MILLION people go to bed hungry.

Without adequate nutrition just to survive.

1.4 BILLION people live on less than $1.25 per day. 

The average American spends around $100 per day.



 

22,000 children die EVERY SINGLE DAY due to poverty.

Children in developing countries are 13 times more likely to die before the age of 5

So, in fact, reality is not at all what I came home to. Reality is what I just left. Reality is that millions of women and children spend hours upon hours each day collecting water to drink, or clean with. Water that could give their baby dysentery or their husband parasites. A curable sickness that they do not have the resources to treat. So they die. Just another number in some remote village across the world far, far away from my view of "reality". The truth is that billions of people struggle to come up with that $1.25 to get them through the day. They struggle to provide a meal that has no nutritional value, but will simply keep their families alive another day. Their kids don't have shoes, or beds, or mosquito nets to protect them from malaria. They don't go to school because they have to work in the field to collect food to stay alive. Then they don't get the education that could help lead them out of that vicious cycle. They don't have access to basic health care or the education that could decrease the infant mortality rate, the maternal mortality rate as well as the overall life expectancy. Reality is that there are entire villages and cities leaving their modest homes to find refuge from militias and dictators. Reality is that thousands of people are dying every day because of food shortages. Reality is that thousand of people die every day from preventable and treatable diseases. Reality is that there are children all over the world being sold into sex slavery and there are people sick enough to pay to use them.

I prayed for the Lord to break my heart for what breaks His. Well here it is. How can I not be grieved by this reality? How can I not be heartbroken when I have looked into the eyes of the children that call this reality every. single. day? I have been there. I have seen that. And now, I am accountable for what I have seen. I can no longer sit in my comfort zone and forget what happens in the corners of the earth. Or pretend it doesn't exist.  I am not ignoring the fact that we have poverty, starvation, and human trafficking in our very own back yard. There are certainly needs in our city, state and nation. Pray that the Lord will show you where he wants you to serve. What place, what people group, what specific “reality” is breaking your heart? I believe as Christians and as "The Church" we have missed, excused and ignored the commands we were given to serve.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

We see it over and over again in scripture that we are to be humble servants. We are to serve "the least of these". We are to speak up for the poor and weak. We are to feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty. We are to go into ALL the nations and make disciples. Disciples, not converts. We are to give until it hurts. Give with sacrifice. We will be rewarded if we do not give up, that’s God’s promise!

 Who will you love for Him today? Will you dare to pray for the Lord to break your heart for what breaks his? Will you allow yourself to be bothered, convicted, uncomfortable by this reality?