It’s easy for us to get caught in our daily lives, the routine where our schedules are built around tasks that accomplish objectives and ultimately put us in a place of success. America is the land of opportunity. If you can dream it you can achieve it.
I love America and bleed red, white and blue; but someplace along the way, we placed the accomplishment of our dreams above the needs of others. At times we pray for others to “be warm and well fed” but are leery about getting involved in their crisis, as it may take us farther than we want to go, cost us more than we want to pay, or make us stay longer than we wanted to stay.
But if we are to be like Jesus, we must do the one thing that He always did, and that is to intervene on behalf of others in their moment of crisis.
Last year we were in Burma, teaching at a conference and working on the orphanage that World Compassion had under construction. We stayed in the capital, Yangon, but would travel out to Twantee where the orphanage was being built. Each morning, we would take a taxi to the ferry which would shuttle us across to land, where we would take another taxi to our destination.
On one particular afternoon, we entered the ferry to come back to Yangon. As we sat on the wooden benches jammed in between locals, children selling candies or snacks would walk up and down the isle, hoping someone would buy something so they could have money for food that day.
I can’t imagine being 12 years old and working like this, hoping I could feed myself. But these kids put on their strong faces, stared into the crowd, and went for it.
We stopped one boy and he patiently listened as we ministered the gospel to him. His eyes danced to the port that was approaching, legs fidgeting as he knew he was losing an opportunity to work the crowd. We wound down the gospel presentation just as the boat reached port. He cried out, “Wont you buy something now?” But the sea of people literally carried us away and off the ferry.
We looked for him again and again throughout the week, no little boy.
Kevin, our media director, was out with a translator one afternoon. As he entered the ferry, there was the young boy selling trinkets. This time Kevin approached the boy and said “Why don’t you relax on this boat ride, and I will sell your items for you.” He took the strap from around the boys neck, removed the tray, and went off through the ferry selling snacks.
The locals bought everything from Kevin, the happy American, and the boy ended the day with a pocket full of dollars. More importantly, someone didn’t just tell the boy about Jesus, Kevin became Jesus for him. This is how Jesus addressed situations in life, he intervened.
Today, who are you becoming Jesus for?
