...On Earth As It Is In Heaven

Poverty.
Brokenness.
Racism.
Classism.
Orphans.
Abuse.

We are living in a broken world and experiencing the effects of the many broken systems based on the devil's lies.

Over the past few weeks, I've been learning about and reflecting on the realities of current issues we are facing in not only Uganda, but America and the world as a whole. It usually begin with talking about something "small" or specific, such as child sacrifice or disparity of wealth. The topic starts small, then I realize that this specific problem stems from something bigger. And that issue, in turn, stems from something even bigger and bigger until we realize that this entire world is broken and hurting and hopeless.

And suddenly it's far too much to bear. It hurts too much.

I begin to shut down because there is nothing that I could ever do to fix such a huge problem.

Suddenly, my heart goes numb, and I can't feel anything. Perhaps as protection?

Christ literally died when he had the weight of the world's sins on him, so if my heart could feel the full extent of the pain and suffering contained in the bit of brokenness that I've come to understand (though it's just a teeny-tiny, little bit of all the pain in the entire world), I'm sure that I would die of a broken heart, as well. Could God be guarding and protecting me from that by numbing my heart?

My heart is already broken with things that break God's heart. Now I need to see and feel the hope.

I must shift my thinking and try not to focus on the big picture. Though I would like to spend this entire lifetime and many, many more sharing the hope of salvation with the lost and broken and doing my best to aliviate the hurt felt by the entire world, I am only one person. I can't save the world.

But thankfully there is someone who can save the whole world. In fact, the Savior of the world already came. His name is Jesus, and all the answers are found in his precious and holy name. Powerful, life-altering, and world-changing hope that is found in Christ alone.

There is no hope apart from Jesus.

We do live in a broken world, but I have to believe that it will not be unredeemed. God sent his Son to die because he loved the world. Every child I pass begging in the streets, every young boy fighting to be seen as a man, each young woman who has never heard of her deep value in God's eyes...I have to trust that God holds their lives and souls in His hands. And He won't let go.

"I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Isaiah 46:4

I cannot save the world, but I know the One who can. I know the One who can un-do deeply rooted systems and cycles of sin, brokeness, and lies. I will cling tight to the promises of the Lord and be willing to move when he tells me to. I can seek His face and continue to believe.
That's what I can do.