This morning I heard the following
song:
"If we are the Body, why aren't His
arms reaching, why aren't His hands healing, why aren't His Words
teaching? If we are the Body why aren't His feet going, why is His
love not showing them there is a way? Jesus paid much too high a
price for us to pick and choose who should come. We are the Body of
Christ."
It made me very very sad, because
it is true. I don't think people see the Body of Christ at work
like they should. In fact I know of people who do not want to
believe, due to the behavior of Christians. And this makes me sad.
We have a loving Father who wants all people to be saved, and we as
the Body are not doing our job.
Then I truly thought about it and
the needs of the poor and the majority of people in need
overwhelmed me. There are so many people with nothing, that it
makes me feel numb, unable to do something. There are beggars
around every corner, and it makes me feel hopeless. What difference
can I make? Can a single person really make a difference? And I
realized that that is exactly the problem, there is such an
overwhelming need, that we give up before we even try to make a
difference.
And then the Lord spoke to me and
said that even if I make a difference in one life, that that is a
start. If each of us makes a difference in one life, it becomes a
multitude of people won for the Lord. And when I talk about a
difference I don't mean giving a beggar your spare change (of
course if the Lord tells you to do it you should), but I mean to
really make a difference in someone's life. To really give input
into someone's life and to help them make the most of it.
For example a friend of mine
started a ministry where she got funds to send one person at a time
for a course to do call centre work. The course was not as
expensive as a degree, but it would help that person to start
somewhere. She would then help the person to get work in a call
centre and once they have that job, she helps them to register for
a degree in something they really wanted to do. Then while they
were working, they would study towards something worthwhile. And it
was amazing to see how that encouraged that person and not only
him, the whole community. The workless community would look up to
that person and be encouraged that one of them can actually make it
in this world. It was amazing for them to see that they can
actually amount to something good, and this did wonders for their
self esteem. And when that person finishes and finds a better job,
he/she would help to sponsor someone else to do the call centre
course and through that cycle, many people got lifted out of
poverty and despair.
That is by what I mean to really
make a difference, to really put someone on the right course. And
since I asked the Lord to show me how I can make a difference on my
small scale, the opportunities presented itself. I helped our
domestic worker's daughter to enroll for courses to become a
paramedic as it was her dream to be one and I helped the lady
working at the gym to enroll at UNISA to study towards becoming a
nurse. Now I know it is only two people, but I know more
opportunities will come and if all of us only help 3 people to get
on the right track, it will soon become a multitude of people and
His Body will become evident in this world.
Now of course there are many other
ways to help people too as the song suggest, but we will talk about
it next week.
Lord please present us the
opportunities to spread Your Word and Your love. Show us where and
how to help. In Jesus' Name. Amen