I was one of many crushed in Romania and will not be the last. There's a pastor in the village we worked in Draganasti – Olt, Romania that aims to crush Christians. His name is Raul. It is his goal to destroy you by asking the hard questions, challenging you on everything you say, making it hard for you to ever be right or just give simple answers without any back up to what you say.
I sat with him in a car to pick up my mother from the airport this month. He singled me out of the 4 other people sitting in the car with me.
He asked me how would he know if I was a Christian. I thought, well that's an easy answer. An hour later the conversation was over and I was crushed and better for it. Much of the time I'd look at my friends for a bit of help, but they offered me none for fear of being crushed themselves.
Raul always says it's his goal to crush Christians so that they won't be crushed by the enemy.
The last day I was in Draganasti, I had a meeting with Raul. In spite of my being crushed, he said he saw something in me that he believed needed to be addressed. He saw a burden in my heart for the lost in Romania. He said my words and actions couldn't deny what was in my heart. He counseled that where a burden is, there you should pursue.
I am not saying I'm moving to Romania, but I am saying that there are things I need to recognize about the tremendous possibilities for my future which still includes Starbucks and America.
What is the burden God has placed in your heart? If it is a holy burden, God will bless and empower you to work for your burden. Just don't ignore the burden He's put there. It is there for a reason for the kingdom of God and it isn't for you.
Maybe you live this life to just get by, to make it. Another day another dollar. Maybe you live to find happiness and contentment. But if you look a bit deeper you might see there is a holy burden sitting in your heart. It may crush you that while the contentment, happiness days and dollars are all great things, the burdens are to be pursued too.
