A couple days ago I saw a man lying on the side of the road presumably dead. His body was twisted in an unnatural way I’ve never seen before. A motorcycle on top of his body with a pool of blood flowing from his mouth. His arms were in a stance of what looked like a protective maneuver to break his fall, but with the speed the traffic goes here it didn’t help. We kept zooming past in the crowded public transportation bus that I was lucky to land a seat in. Me feeling a bit shocked at the sight.
No one was running to help him. The flow of traffic didn’t stop for this man. He’d probably get a piece of him run over here soon. Earlier that day on the same bus ride I saw a man punching this woman as they fought on the sidewalk. That hit me in a shocking way too. No one rushed to stop this man. It brought up a fury in me at the mistreatment of this woman.
In a matter of an hour I saw some pretty out of the usual sights. Normally traffic would stop for this man. Normally an ambulance called. Normally people wouldn’t let a man beat a woman in broad daylight. Normally a valiant gentleman of sorts or a brave woman would intercede on that woman’s behalf. None of the “normal” happened.
All left me with these thoughts… pretty much everyone here in Myanmar is Buddhist. 24/7 the chants of monks are heard all throughout the village and countryside. I’m not saying that lightly, but it’s very much a thing. Each night I fall asleep to the chanting in a language I don’t understand and each morning I awake to the same chanting. My earplugs don’t completely block out the sounds. 24/7 the beliefs of this religion is blared into the air. These people literally grow up their whole lives listening to these prayers to a god that is not real. It’s just background noise yet so much power is held in that noise. It has the power of brainwash. I really can’t imagine listening to something every hour of each day my whole life and what that would do to the way I think and process. I’ve only been here for a month and even though the devotion amazes me, I’m thankful I don’t understand the language. Truly can’t imagine all that’s going on in the spiritual realm of things.
I got a little off topic. Oops! These sights brought me to an Ecclesiastic moment. How life is so pointless. We are born, we work to survive and then we die. All flowers fade away and trees fall eventually.
It just struck me in my mind how hopeless these peoples lives are. (At least in that moment. Always hope with Jesus in our lives!) but that’s just it more likely than not the people I’d witnessed today probably didn’t have Jesus in their lives. They are living for nothing. Nothing… Do we ever really comprehend that completely? If people don’t have Jesus they are living for NOTHING! I’m screaming this out to you as I type this. I want the yearning of pain in my heart to be apparent because this is a desperate call to each reader. When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone to share Jesus? To befriend a nonbeliever? To love on those who don’t know Him? Who don’t have any hope in their lives?
I’m not saying to go get some tracts and stand at the entrance to Walmart. Personally not into that type of thing. (Not saying it’s bad, but I’m more for the relational with people.) I’m not saying I’ve got this whole sharing my faith thing down. Nope. Not at all not even close to my point or message I want to get across. I deal with fleshly fears of rejection still and all the things stepping out of my comfort zone brings when I step out in boldness for the Lord. We are called to be bold. We are called to be courageous. We are called to bring a Gospel that’s real and it WILL step on this worlds toes. It’s a gospel that we should not be wrapping up with a bow on top because Jesus sure didn’t!
We are alive for a reason! To be a slave to the Lord. (Yes, I mean slave. May sound harsh, but come find me and we will talk about serving as a servant/serving as a slave;) ) to sing praises and live our lives pleasing to Him. Such a gift to be shared and spread so that others can live their lives alive in Him as well. Because if you don’t have Jesus you’re just a walking zombie. My heart aches at that. So many walking zombies! What am I doing? What are you doing? What are we going to do together? If you aren’t motivated to step out… if you are in a place of complacency with the Lord… I know I was a year ago. I didn’t spend time with God each day. I didn’t prioritize Him in my day to day life like I should have. I’ll admit that. That’s not a place I want to be ever again in my life. I once was a walking zombie. Kinda half alive. I’d go to the Word and I’d pray every once in awhile. I’d only allow the Living Water to wash over me in my choosing. Instead of being filled up daily so that it could be an overflow of Jesus coming from me. I used to treat the Bible kinda like the magic 8 ball. I’d pray a question and flip it open hoping it’d apply. Or I’d be going through something and flip it open hoping I’d just get this crazy revelation from God.
That’s not how it works. Yes, the Lord does reveal some things in crazy ways and yes His Word is alive and moving in our spirits, but God is all about the relationships. He wants to be known and sought after too. When you transition the thoughts of what can he do and speak to me… to wanting to know Him more intimately it’s a game changer. You see people differently and you see the Bible differently.
Those are my thoughts as of late running through my mind and I really felt it important to share.
