This was such a special afternoon with sweet memories for this family
to have all three generations together from California to Georgia! And its my privilege to capture :) Hope and Grace: two familiar terms that have recently stood out, perhaps in a new light. In Peru, we drove through city after city with minimal infrastructure, street lights but no running water, houses of canvas or brick, or just black tarps stretched out to post a claim on land, others were more developed, some had roofs and windows, many with dirt floors, in some communities such as Alto-Trujillo the mafia threatened civilians, others had paved roads and shops. Yet regardless which city, the nicest most well-cared for buildings were the Catholic churches. Before we arrived in Peru, the Pope had recently made his rounds visiting cities. Many billboards still remain freshly painted, entire walls and roadways were brightly decorated to welcome him, one even stated "the Pope is our hope." Catchy, right? In shock, my heart was grieved to see so many led astray with false hope and even paying money to come see him or receive a blessing. What is hope? What is like to live with hope? How does this hope change my life today? How does or should it impact the choices I make? These questions have often crossed my mind; perhaps even more frequently since working in the emergency department. Sometimes the world seems especially dark or "hopeless," that nothing will really change or that any efforts would be like a drop in an ocean. And in itself - that would be true. The world is hopeless, without Christ. Or even closer to home, perhaps there is a family situation seems without hope, a coworker that is too difficult, an addiction too far gone, an emptiness that cannot be filled. The manifestations and consequences of sin are overwhelming. But we are not without hope! {1 Thessalonians 4:9-18; Hebrews 11:1} We can have hope because the world as we see it is not the end of the story. Hope is trusting One we cannot yet see; rooted and grounded in faith; reveals a humble heart of dependence on God and confidence in His character. Hope is an eager anticipation! Yet before we can share that hope, it must first truly be ours. The Hope inside us because of Christ is based on a personal real relationship with Him! "…so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…" Hebrews 6:18-20 Secondly, that hope is not in myself. Sometimes, the prideful thought has occurred to me "if only that person would let me in a influence in their lives, I could imagine how there how situation would work out! I could write a beautiful ending to their story, if only they would let me!" How often do we want to play God or take control of a situation? Yet again I am convicted that I am not anyone's source of hope! Only Christ is and can be. Instead my prayer must be that I and others would seek Him, yield to His Word, and obey His voice in our lives. Whether a coworker, or a patient, or a child in Peru, HE is their hope. He is their salvation. HE alone has the power to change lives. He has already overcome death; He has overcome the world! This the hope that we have in confidence for He is faithful. His character is steadfast. His testimony is proven. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. It is often asked how there could be a good God when the world is full of hate, hypocrisy, strife, war, wrestling with ethics and intolerance? Yet, God is not the author of confusion {1 Corinthians 14:33}. Sin is not evidence of the God's existential absence, but of man's will. God's design did not include sin, nor did He leave the world without hope and a way of salvation! For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. … so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:17-21 Grace: God's grace, a gift of which I am so undeserving. Grace that is my salvation {Eph 2:8-10}, and sustains us through our sanctification. God in His grace, reveals the next step for us in His will and gives strength to follow Him. However, recently, I have been convicted that only in God's grace did He not reveal details of what this last six months was going to look like. Had I known what working at the ER would mean, all that would be entailed, I am fairly certain I would have never accepted. But God is working for our good! He knows where and how we need to be stretched, and I pray we may stay humble and contrite before the Lord in dependence on Him to do so. My inadequacies are ever present in my eyes. The confrontation with worldviews has been glaring. Likewise going to another country will usually push one far enough out of any comfort zone to make one think about life from another perspective. The only foundation in the midst of shifting cultures is God's Word! In both situations, the Lord has consistently reminded me of the difference Christ makes in every area of life if we yield it to Him. In the clinics with Medical Missions Outreach, most of the evangelism is intentionally done by the mature believers in the church there previously discipled by the pastor. Every single patient who came through the clinic would get to hear the gospel explained one-on-one in their own language. But this time, many of our translators were not Christians and came simply for the experience of practicing English. They were so excited to speak English and many asked why we would come all this way for clinic. It was a wonderful opportunity for the gospel, because that is why we came! How sweet it was to reflect on the simplicity of the Gospel, Christ sacrifice, and His unconditional love. One translator asked me after repeating back the whole gospel to me - "is it really that simple?!" How quickly my eyes lose sight of eternity. How easily I forget how undeserving I am of God's grace. We praise the Lord for the 81 new believers from that week, 3 of whom served as translators! For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10 No government, humanitarian relief, program or myself can ever "fix" the world or relieve its suffering, but we can introduce them to the One Who is their hope. Who has already paid for their redemption. One who gives me Hope, not of this world. The overwhelming task and inadequacy of myself is not a reason to give up but a motivator to seek the One who already has written each stories' ending. For the time we have is not to be wasted - but to steward well. It is with hope of greater things to come, hope of sweet fellowship without the taint of sin, hope of rejoicing without ailments, hope of worshipping face to face, hope of seeing the One who is Perfect, for the hope in our Savior that we press on. And with grace that we walk, with grace for each conversation, grace for each unknown, grace for tomorrow and sufficient for today. May these be our reality - for this world is not our home. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 1 Peter 3:15 |
AuthorI will be the first to admit that I am not a writer, but have a sincere aspiration to articulate Truth with grace, in love, seasoned with salt. Here is a journal of sorts, or photo documentations of a journey - one currently around the world in Papua New Guinea working at the Kunai Health Center. Thanks for visiting and your support! Archives
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