Sometime I feel like the worlds problems are so big there is nothing I can do about them. Huger, poverty, homelessness, they break my heart, but what can I do for the least of these? The sheer number of people affected and they systems involved overwhelm me. I am quickly willing to pass it off as someone else’s problem. It doesn’t fit in my little world. This is for people with money and foundations named after them to fix.
I have been reading a book titled, A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It is challenging me in so many ways. It looks into the research behind what we fund. Are government-funded programs working? Are we looking at them from the right viewpoint? What other programs should we be paying attention to in an effort to improve quality of life for the least of these among us? The book is compelling yet overwhelming. Where can someone like me start? Again, I do nothing. Then God does what He often does to me and brings scripture to mind.
““Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’”…
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
(Matthew 25:34-36, 40 NIV).
Whatever I do for one. Ugh! How can I do nothing? Do I have room in my life for another commitment? Maybe it is a small financial commitment to a program I know is making a difference? Maybe it is just a couple of hours a month of my time? I’m being pushed to make a commitment. It’s easy to randomly give food to the food shelf. My caring for the least of these has been random. There has been no intention, no forethought, and no consideration for those in need. I think it needs to move higher on my priority list.
God is taking me down a path I wasn’t expecting and I don’t know where it is going. He is opening my eyes to see a bigger picture than my comfortable little world. Care to join me on this journey? I’m certain it’s going to be a fun ride.
Share ways that God is challenging you to reach out to those in need. We can encourage and inspire each other.