This is Eyael she is 5. She has a brother Samuel age 12, Abraham 10, Hannah 7, and a baby sister Ruth age 3. Their mom died and dad couldn't take care of them. Eyael has HIV. This little girl is on my computer as wall paper and my cellphone wallpaper to remind me to pray and to act. You see, God is haunting me through her story and picture...her smile, her need, who she represents...she is the face of HIV to me, in a way that no one ever has been for some reason. I confess, she is messing me up.
A couple friends of ours from our church are in Ethiopia bringing home some girls that they are adopting, they are also serving for three months in the Orphanage as well. You can follw thier journey at: http://daileysinethiopia.blogspot.com/. These are some of the kids from the Orphanage. Unfortunately for me, or really, fortunately...their journey is colliding with mine, as God usually works...You see, I woke up yesterday with this little girls face in my heart and on my mind. I opened up the bible to read and in 1 Corinthians 4:8 I read this:
"You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us..."
That verse shredded through all my calloused defenses, it tore through the materialism that has hardened my resolve to follow Jesus in a prophetic way. Like a flaming arrow it ignited in the dry places of my heart and like someone laying unconscious, I found myself shaking out of slumber like a knocked out boxer with a nose full of smelling salts. This verse reverberated in the dark, quite rafters of my soul, until the cathedral of my soul filled with the music of tears. Like rain drenching away a long drought of accumulating dust, the clogged drain of my compassion fatigued inner life. Once again living water pumped free flowing life from the inside of that deep well of love inside me, that too often gets stopped up in the work I do.
I stood face to face with those scriptures like a modern day David with the finger of Nathan stuck in my numb chest.
"You are the man!"
Those words blew over me and ushered in a wave of repentance for allowing mundane, pointless distractions steal from me the clarity that the way of love brings. All the drama, the agitations, the offenses, the meaningless arguments and pointless energy draining controversies were exposed for the smoke screen that they were. Like quicksand that was dragging me down with each attack, every complaint, every call, email or look...I was struggling in a quick drying cement of love hardening mirages. Guilty for wasting time on stuff that the enemy seeks to inflate around us to keep us beating at shadows instead of realities.
These verses came on like Sinai's thunderous boom. Two carved out of flesh commandments fell with a earth shaking thud before my weary feet. There they smoldered fresh from the finger of God...Love God...love people.
Simple...and too often...forgotten.
We live in a dying world in need of awake people, who are wrestling with the fires of love within their burdened but alive souls. We need clarity that suffering and death bring. We need to hear the world we are profiting from rise up and expose us as fleshy kings that have built a world of comfort that has lured us into a state of disengagement from the call of Jesus.
This little girls face reminds me of why I am here, why I am a pastor, who God is weeping over.
I pray that I will faithfully respond to the demands of love in this day.
8 comments:
Right on Bro. I'm reading this as I upload the rest of my Ethiopian photos....
I love to hear about these moments of clarity, moments where the Living God exposes His heart and His concern to us. All of the sudden there is a gust of Holy breath that tunes our heart with His. I see this little girls face in all the pictures of those who need justice and mercy, she haunts my prayer closet, in all of leafs of the Bible she pleads. She is the more important part of the Law; justice, mercy and faithfulness. Yes vote, yes witness, yes learn, but these moments in prayer come to remind us that our God accepts as pure and faultless those that look after orphans and widows in their distress and those that keep themselves from being polluted by this world. I know I'm preaching to the choir but this post lives in me.
Love Dad
preach it pastor! That was a good one, thank you for sharing.
What a beautiful, inspiring post!
I so agree with Fred! We can talk, pray, argue, discuss, read, learn, ponder, debate, yada yada yada ad infinitum... but in the end, like you said, it all comes down to loving God and loving people... And to be able to do so humbly, truly, authentically, with joy and passion, in action as well as in word and thought -- well, I believe it's only possible when God Himself begins the work in us, follows through with it in us and completes it in us. It's a beautiful, joyful, holy burden that accomplishes so much as His living water flows in and through us freely.
I hope you don't feel that your blog is a waste of time or somehow detracts from our highest delight and honor of loving God and loving people. If the battle truly is to see, not to do, then what you do here is of infinite value. I don't think you'll ever know, this side of Heaven, how much good has been done in the world because of the inspiration, motivation, conviction, desire and determination that has been born out of the words of truth you've expressed here.
Questions:
You said "I pray that I will faithfully respond to the demands of love this day." Was that prayer answered? And if so, how?
and
What does "14th level pastor" mean, anyway? :)
Thank you for allowing God to speak to you, to speak to us through you, and for so transparently sharing so much of what you experience on so many different levels.
14th level pastor is a status for only pompous pugnacious pontiffs who can pontificate profusely without provoking protagonists who would penalize you until purgatory pronounced you purged.
well, not really...its a ode to ye old Dungeon and Dragons days...where one would level up based on experience points usually gained by viscous and dealdly hand to hand combat...not unlike these adventures we call blogging. ;)
oh and regarding:
"You said "I pray that I will faithfully respond to the demands of love this day." Was that prayer answered? And if so, how?"
First of all...we are looking at some possible choices on our home front to engage the suffering of Orphans.
Second, we are rallying supplies for the Orphanage and will ship it this upcoming week.
Third, I am organizing a December First Friday called "Offerings" that will host artists, musicians, gifts/crafts and food to provide a means to buy Christmas gifts for friends and family and at the same time raise money for Orphans. All proceeds will go to the Orphans and Widows indeed.
Fourth,
I am preaching and writing and talking up the issue, the cal and the burden.
Fifth,
Our church is going to flesh out a plan o involvement that is more than sending money alone, we will probably "adopt" the orphanage and also seek to push adoptions, maybe raise the money as a congregation for a family that wants to adopt...so together we all will "adopt" in a way.
6th...I am praying and being prayed through by the Spirit.
Oh yeah, D&D, I used to play that game... It was quite addictive. When I was in high school, I carried around a D&D illustrated Dungeon Master's Guide and a Bible at the same time (in addition to other books). My Creative Writing teacher commented on my stack of books once. I guess that might explain why I can so readily see God's paradoxes throughout all of Creation... :)
What you, LeeElla, and Jacob's Well are doing to put your money, time, action and resources into helping and loving the orphans... Well, it humbles and inspires me (as well as many others, I'm sure).
Now that IS an answer to prayer!
You carried a bible AND Dungeon Masters Guide...wow, You could of been burned at the stake in one group and worshipped (little "w") in the christian underground D&D boy groups... LOL!
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