the Need

Tonight my roommate and I watched (yet again) the movie made about William Wilberforce called: Amazing Grace. Powerful film! I've read a bit on Wilberforce, not a lot, but enough to know that he was a pretty incredible man. And every time I watch that movie, I finish it wanting so desperately to be him. To give my life for something beyond me. To fight injustice that surrounds. To love the Lord, serve Him, and invest this gift that has been given me in hope of seeing the Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. I get this same feeling when I watch movies like: Schindler's List, Hotel Rwanda, End of the Spear, etc. Or read countless other biographies of faithful men and women that loved the Lord and gave their all for Him.

However, the older I get, the more realistic I become about such things. I listen to other people. The loudness of passion has begun to fade. I am but one small, very small, person. And more than that- who am I? Pretty humble origins. Really have nothing worthy in my character or talents worth boasting about...even if I wanted. I will be the first to say that I'm a nobody in all regards.

And yet... here I sit. Tears running down my cheeks. Feeling shattered over the poverty, injustice, abuse, suffering, and despair that haunt every corner of this world. There isn't a country on this globe that isn't in need of someone sensitive to the Lord's heart for compassion and love to those in need. Slavery lives on still! Trafficking of girls and boys, young and old, is taking place in staggering quantities everywhere! People lack clean water, simple medications, a safe place to live... I could go on and on with thoughts and images that plague my heart. But I believe that you yourself know these things- maybe not on the surface, but deep inside.  And they plague you too.

The question is this: what are we going to do?

The Need surrounds

It oppresses the one who

With eyes and ears wide open

Feels and gives attention

Many a man spends

Day & night, night & day

A lifetime of moments

Patching justice

The Need is fluid

Ever-changing

Sucking dry and enveloping

The one who gave their all

Many give everything

To a cause or hope

With baited expectation

Only to be used and left empty

Martha, Martha

The need is always present

But one Thing remains

Chose Me

I wrote this poem last week, as I felt this war raging inside me. I know that I'm not a poet, but these words express my heart and the things that feel overwhelming in so many ways right now. Maybe I'm not the one to go- maybe it is you. But either way, let's pray to the One who has all things under His control. I'm sure He has a plan already formed!

"You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know."

“If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.”

-William Wilberforce