Post-Haiti Thoughts

These are some of the things the Lord has started teaching me during and after my trip to Haiti. My trip was great...God has stirred some things in my heart that continue to have me searching still...so far here is what He's stirred in me.

Apathy is intolerable. It is ungodly to be apathetic toward things that God cares greatly about. The hearts of people, the souls of a nation, the suffering of the poor, and the affluent indifference of the wealthy – these things are serious matters and as a Christian I cannot turn a blind eye and pretend that I don’t see it. It is these things for which we will be held accountable.

Jesus Christ is the only hope for a person, a community, a nation, and the world. There is no other option. No government can solve the problems of society. No relief effort can absolve spiritual poverty.

Worship is my created purpose. It’s not an option, although I am given the freedom to express it or not. Worship is not circumstantial. Worship is NOT music or singing. Worship is a lifestyle. If I should choose not to worship God with my life, I am missing the very reason I am here. Though I am given the choice and freedom to worship, I am not fulfilling the purpose of God when I choose under which circumstances and situations I will worship and under which I will not worship.

As John Piper says, “Missions is bringing worship to a place where worship does not exist.” Missions is an extension of my primarily calling to worship my Father.

I want my life to count. In some ways that can be an extremely selfish statement, and I may be selfish in making it. However, my purpose in saying it is this: When I stand before God I want to know that what He called me to do, I did. That when He told me to sacrifice Isaac, I went “early the next morning” and climbed Mount Moriah with no other plan than to give away what is most precious to me. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

I am so incredibly in love with Jesus and so thankful to Him for salvation and freedom from sin. Without hope for my rescue from the curse of sin and without the promise of eternal life, my existence has no meaning. I am so blessed to be loved by a God that created the mountains that He can also command to move. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit who lives within me and who gives me power to be His witness. I am thankful to Jesus for bearing the weight of my sin and choosing not to call legions of angels, but rather to endure a gruesome death by choice.

In closing, II Corinthians 2:14-15 sums up my feelings pretty well. “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”