3 months ago we landed in Africa. And ever since then I have been struggling with the extreme amount of destitution here. The physical and spiritual poverty that encompasses most of the Africa I am experiencing has at times overwhelmed me beyond my ability to find hope and cling to Christ.
I felt as if it was like “choosing to see the glass half full instead of half empty.”
We can either get caught up in the glass half empty attitude…
There is just too much poverty here. Nothing I can do will help. If I feed 100 people today, great, but what about tomorrow and the next day, then what? There’s just no point. Sulking and complaining are the only options that seem feasible. Ugh, how discouraging.
Or we can get caught up in the glass is half full outlook…
I think this is definitely the better of the two options. Someone with an encouraging attitude often tends to be a bit more productive than a Debbie Downer. But this outlook can lead to seeing everything totally perfect just the way it is and not being moved to change circumstances. That family doesn’t have any food today, but at least they have shoes on their feet. That mother can’t afford medicine for her dying baby, but at least she has a bed to sleep in. Yes, those things are great, shoes and beds are awesome, seriously, no sarcasm, but the reality is that, that family is still hungry and that baby will die without help.
So really the argument of whether the glass is half full or half empty doesn’t really matter; let’s be real here, either way, the glass is still lacking. So instead of focusing on how full the glass is, let’s focus on filling the glass up.
What needs to happen in order for water to be provided for the glass to reach it’s full capacity? How can we come up with the means to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, tend to the sick, etc…?
This is where I was last week. How can I with my small budget provide meals for these street kids here in Nakuru who may or may not eat today or have roofs to sleep under tonight?
One of the women on my squad saw the need for the street kids and took action. Her compassion led the group of women I am working with this month to provide lunch for them in the park one afternoon. We have now been passing out food along with taking care of other necessities for these kids for the past week. And, yes, it did feel good to feed hundreds of hungry children lunch and to provide medicine for a little girl’s ringworm that was all over her head. Passing out cups of porridge in the park made that half empty or half full glass (whichever way you see it) really start to fill up. But there has to be more than just the satisfied feeling of a child with a full belly.
And that’s when I had this thought…
Let’s get rid of the stupid glass, get rid of all the measuring tools, get rid of the lists, the rules and the ways that we try to place our lives in a structured organized box. We can remove the glass from under the pitcher completely and just let the waters flow freely. Let the waters wash over all that is dry and in need of cleansing.
I realized that the satisfied feeling I got from providing for the physical needs of these people came from the idea of filling up the glass. A motion that may or may not lead to anything more than just that, a motion, that at the end of the day means nothing without love.
I don’t want to walk through life with the constant feeling of what needs to be done, how do we fix this problem, how do we make this situation better. How can I fill this glass to reach it’s capacity. I am not saying that I don’t want to see desolate circumstances prosper, of course I want to see that.
I want to walk in this life loving everyone I meet and letting that love, the powerful love that God created me in and for to transform and redeem broken people and hopeless situations. I want to follow the Spirit no matter the cost, whether that means giving everything I have to the poor, buying a meal for that old lady on the corner begging or spending time and speaking words of truth and love to a man who chooses to buy glue to get high off of instead of spending that money on food for his family.
I want the healing water of Jesus Christ to overflow from my heart and wash over all those who are thirsty, all those who have never tasted the living water that will save them from the scorching desert around them.
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
