“To you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.� -psalm 10:14
Once again I found myself in the
channel of unexpected blessing. Arriving in Nairobi, Kenya, a week
before the squad would arrive, I was to help get things prepared for
our debrief meeting (when all the teams would come together for rest,
teaching, refreshment). So, no ministry on tap, at least, on the
books- just getting things ready… but we know as Christians we are
always on duty… and God is always likely to show up. We had some
down time so we went searching… and oh did we find the most awesome
blessing. There was an orphanage just up the street… not just any
orphanage, it was specifically designed to gather in the worst of the
worst…. Orphans with aids. The helpless of the helpless. And this became my great joy over the next several days!
I have never been around an environment
like I was thrust into though. At first it was a shock… but soon the
peace of God came over me, and I realized I wasn’t there to feel
comfortable, I was there to feel uncomfortable for the sake of
others. The staff was more full of joy than anyone i’ve ever seen.
Watching them was a deep inspiration in itself! They led me into a back room…
upon entering, there are little bodies wiggling all around on the
floor… about 12 babies just a few months old. Most of them were
covered with chickenpox. Wow! What a sight?
Without any time for me to really take
in the sight, I was given a few pairs of socks, with the obvious
directions. It wasn’t long till I felt right at home amidst these
babes. Once we got them all dressed, it was out to a larger room for
food and play time. So we each got hold one baby at a time and feed
them… milk and spit up became part of my attire. Songs of praise
on a nearby speaker lifting up the words, “I am standing, I am
standing, I am standing on the promises of God.� it was beautiful.
A sacredness of the moment came over
me. A realization of the helplessness of this child. Cast away,
unwanted… his or her story of beginning largely unknown… the only
thing known is that the child will never know its parents, and that
the child will live with a disease the rest of its life… if it will
survive long enough to be considered having lived a life. I couldn’t
help ask these children in my heart… “you didn’t ask for this
did you?�…. “you didn’t choose this life did you?�… “you
didn’t do anything to deserve this.�
And I couldn’t help but ask God, the
Father of all, “Why?�
It was an awful picture of the
far-reaching consequences of sin. We often think the consequences,
pain, and ramifications of our sin are safe, at least, with us.
Surely others wouldn’t have to bear punishment of our own sin. But
it is not true. No man is an island unto himself… our sin effects
others, and the consequences of our actions never belong to ourselves
alone.
And here before me, the product of sin.
Not a product… but a baby… a human… who will for as many days
as he or she will live, will live out under the burden of someone
else’s sin.
But praise be to God that sin never has
the final say! And the answer to my question of “Why?� came back
to me with striking force… “For my glory!�
Exactly why this has happened I cannot
know, and perhaps that belongs only to the hidden things of God…
but this I do know… and is revealed to us… “that His glory
might be displayed.� What God was saying was this… “Matthew,
you are displaying me to the world.� My heart filled with
compassion for this child… and it was not my compassion, it was the
Lord’s. I was not feeding this child… God was! I was not
playing with this child and doing whatever I could do to make him
laugh… God was!
God was reminding me that He is the God
that redeems… that makes all things new! That takes the worst of
situations and turns them for His glory!… that what the enemy meant
for harm, He meant for good!! That some way through this child He
was fulfilling His grand purposes on this earth! To display His
glory and His grace for the saving of many!
See to take it a step farther, I
realized, and I even write with tears in my eyes, that I am no
different from this child. I too am sick… I too am helpless… my
clothes aren’t getting put on unless God does it for me… I don’t
even have clothes unless God gives them to me… it is God who
changes my proverbial diaper (yes, this happens much in my spiritual
life)… it is God who plays with me, and makes me laugh… who feeds
me when I cannot feed myself… it is God who is my Father… it is
His eyes that look into mine giving me the love and affirmation that
I crave to feel valued, to feel alive, to feel like a person. In one
word I am, dependent… dependent on another… and that other is
God… and it is by grace!
Why do we help the helpless?… because
that is what we are. Why do we offer forgiveness?… because we
ourselves need it. Why do we show grace?… because we have been
shown grace. Why do we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty,
clothe the naked?… because we know these things… because we know
that nothing in this life, no blessing we have ever received has ever
been apart from the sheer grace of God.
And so we may not know why all the
tragedy is around us… but we know what we are called to do in the
midst of darkness… to shine! To shine with the glory and grace of
our God… to display the heart of God to the world!
