Friday Thoughts...

Have you ever felt like you wanted to do more about the problems in our world? 

  I have been feeling like that for the past couple weeks. I think I have my summer in Africa to thank for this feeling. When you see the extent of poverty some people live with and when you live simply without a lot of "stuff", coming back to the cozy homeland is a wee bit overwhelming.  You find yourself enjoying things like Starbucks, soft beds, clean feet and dependable transportation and yet you know that some of your friends on the other side of the world are wondering where their next meal is coming from. That is a really hard thought for me and I want to do something about the hard things. I try to arrange my life in a way that  shares some of my abundance with those that have less.

  But what more can I do?

I bought the shoes...

I did the walk...

I made the trip...

 

I'm NOT trying to toot my own horn here or say that I'm doing everything perfectly or that I have this figured out. These are just the thoughts that have gone through my head as I've been re-adjusting to life in my homeland where God has planted me for this season.

This morning Jesus gave me the answer to my questions. 

  I have been studying Song of Songs in the Bible lately. {seriously good stuff} This morning I decided to listen to a teaching about it. The teacher, Mike Bickle of IHOP, was sharing that one way to look at this book is as a picture of Jesus and His Bride, the church {Us, You and ME!}. He talked about growing in our relationship with Jesus and loving Him, but our part as the Bride doesn't stop there. Out of a relationship with Jesus, we work in partnership with Him to bring His Kingdom to earth! 

So when I feel like I need to do more, when my heart aches to do more about the problems I see, I need more of Jesus because He has all the solutions! Sometimes I forget that He sees all the horrors of our world more than I do and His heart aches more than mine does. Jesus has cried more tears over injustice, hunger, pain, fear and suffering than I ever will. Yet, He also has the solutions and the strategies for change, hope, joy, peace and LOVE. 

Like I said before, don't feel condemned or judged by all this. I'm just sharing what God is doing in me. If you feel like you need to do more, ask Jesus what is breaking His heart today and what you can do about it. I promise He has answers for you.

Thanks for reading my thoughts this Friday afternoon!