Starved hearts. Emaciated people covered in darkness. Dry Bones yearning for redemption.
This is what I see in the richest places on earth, the Places that actually have the freedom to live. And I don’t mean survive, I mean really living. Completely Satisfied. They have been given everything. Yup, I see just longing, eager, and starving little helpless toddlers. And their cravings are covered up by bogus smiles, controlled mindsets, and good-looking styles, in which they think that oh THIS will satisfy.
I stand constantly asking myself, Is THIS what my God died for?! Because if it is, I sure don’t want it. I know what my heart is hungry for, but gosh… THIS won’t satisfy. It’s fake, synthetic, phony, and just plain religious.
And the truly sad part is- they don't even know how desperate they are.
For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17
I still think it's a little ironic… because I also can see loving hearts singing praises of joy, children reaching the heavens, awakened souls entering organic intimacy, true goodness in the land of the living. I see these acts in the darkest places on earth. I see the poor who have absolutely lost everything honestly understanding provision of a King. I see amputees of vicious combat knowing the healings of a true God. I see lost abused orphans flowing into the irresistible affection of a Loving Father.
These people have nothing. They aren’t living in a decent home. Some don’t even have a home. They live off of less than a dollar a day eating tasteless mush, if that. And, hopefully there is a well eight miles away from “home” that they can walk to. Each day some of them face the risk of persecution for their faith. Yet, these people have everything. They know the weight of that which they carry. The Gospel. The GOOD News.
These children of the Most High, get it. They know a God who is good not based on their circumstances, whose love doesn’t stop passionately pursuing them in their darkest or brightest hour, whose grace flows richly towards their enemies, and whose wings they hide in to find rest. They aren’t lost, but they have been adopted. They depend on nothing except the sacrifice of Jesus. And, I give thanks to Papa God for my brothers and sisters that know the long-suffering of His endless affection.
Hopefully, I will learn from them. I would be a fool to think that they have “nothing” to offer me. I desire to understand what they have truly come to know, because THAT is what truthfully fills the soul.
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? James 2:5
And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:17-18
