I’m sitting in a coffee bar in downtown Antigua right now,
trying to collect my thoughts about this month. I was going to try and sum up
this month in a few paragraphs but that would be near impossible. We have seen
poverty beyond what any of us imagined, we have seen the gospel reach to the
tops of mountains and the depths of valleys, we have seen the joy in a child’s
face who has only the clothes on his back and barely enough food for the day,
we have helped a single mother dig the foundation of her own house by hand, we
have seen God’s people praise him in the midst of despair, and we have seen the
salvation of our savior pierce through the darkness of a lost and broken
country. Guatemala is in need; there is no doubt about it, but beyond the need
of food, proper shelter, and education there is a burning need for laborers of
the gospel. It is so easy to become overwhelmed by all of the need and one of
the most difficult thoughts I have come to wrestle with is the fact that I
can’t fix it all. I am only one person but that is the incredible beauty of the
body of Christ! There are so many members to His body and if we each take it
upon ourselves to look beyond our own wants and needs and begin to really live
out the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves
than maybe, just maybe we can begin a revival to see not only our own nation
change but also get the chance to see the world change. 12 men with passion and
power from God flipped this world on its head. What is stopping us? We still
serve that same God who parted seas and raised Christ from the dead.
God has
been working so much inside of me and lately I have been reading through the
book of Hebrews. In chapter 3 the writer reminds us in verse 15 what was
written in the Psalms, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts….” I feel like I have heard God’s voice through his
scripture so many times but I have
listened very few times. I have heard sermon after sermon and have
walked out of church thinking that I have already mastered whatever issue was
brought to the table but in reality I have done nothing about what I have
heard! It is self deception at its finest. I am longing to get to a place that
when I hear the Word of God action follows. 
When confronted with so much need I
find myself wanting to squirm out of the responsibility that I now have to do
something about it. My prayer is that God continues to change my heart and mind
to be more like Christ because when Jesus saw a needy crowd of people the bible
says, “He was moved with compassion for them…” Wherever we are may we as the
Church begin to move with compassion for the lost, poor, hurting world that is
our neighbor, realizing that we can’t do everything but we can do something. Let’s get in prayer to seek God’s face
and ask Him individually and corporately as his body, “What can I do?” Then
pray for the willingness to say, “Here am I Lord, Send me.” I have only one
life to live; the greatest shame would be to waste it. Don’t waste your life.
