Life on
earth requires grace to be in the reality of sin. I never feel this more intensely than when I
return from a mission trip to a country where poverty and human suffering are
experienced in far more extreme ways than I see here in America.
The
living conditions I experience up close and personal turn my stomach with
sorrow and pity. It’s only after I meet
the individuals, the children, the workers, that I discover the power of
grace. Amidst the smells, the squalor
and the absence of common decencies, there is an aura of grace that sheds light
that makes the impoverished conditions have a golden glow.
Often
the richest person is impoverished compared to the poor. I see this in the way the children respond to
a simple sticker or a small balloon. The
joy they receive from the smallest gift is humbling and blissful to experience. There is a gift of grace from having
little. There are fewer worries about
robbery or jealousy. The honor of the
relationship between individuals has a higher value than the material
possession given.
Working
in slums and shanty towns is grace-filled work.
Don’t get me wrong, they are dangerous and disease infested places for
sure. The incidence of alcoholism is
higher there amidst the despair of life.
Sexual crimes go unreported because they are so common. It is definitely not a comfortable
place. It is only the hope of Christ
that brings this graceful glow to the harsh conditions.
You
might feel that you have nothing to offer the children who will most likely
never live above the poverty line. Yet
when you bring them Christ, you bring them the grace to be in their reality. The hope of eternal life brings hope to live
right where they are now.
We can
each live in this grace to be in our own reality. I know that I receive grace to face what each
new day brings even though I can be pretty sure I will have a roof over my head
and food to eat and even air conditioning to make me comfortable. No one’s reality is without a need for
grace. When we recognize this grace, we
are able to live in our reality with the same joy I saw in the faces of the
children when I gave them a sticker. And
more than that, I experience the joy their faces displayed when they gave me a
simple flower and greeting of welcome to their classroom.
Ruth
Myers paraphrases Paul’s words well when she writes: Thank You that Your Son will return from heaven with a shout of
triumph, that the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable…and in a flash, in
the twinkling of an eye, we shall all be utterly changed. We shall see the radiance of His face and the
glorious majesty of His power. It will
be a breathtaking wonder and splendor unimaginable to all who believe! Thank You that whatever we may have to go
through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future You
planned for us.(1 Thessalonians 4:16 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 2 Thessalonians
1:6-10; Romans 8:18)[i]
May you
experience the grace to be in your reality and live it as fully as an
impoverished child receiving a sticker!
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