Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed - "to overcome completely in mind or feeling"
Burdened - "that which is borne with difficulty"


I feel overwhelmed and burdened lately.  It has been steadily growing in my heart.  It literally has been weighing on me, so much so that my countenance has been affected.


There's a problem with this world that I've recently had my eyes opened to.  I had heard of it but it had not really been on my list of priorities.  I had not been that concerned about it but it is urgent nonetheless.


Poverty.
Hunger.
Disease.
Death.


These things are running rampant across our planet.  In countries all over the world, millions and millions of people are dying because they are malnourished or because of preventable disease.  Millions of people don't have access to clean drinking water or a steady food supply.  Orphans are heading households full of other orphans because all of their parents have died with HIV/AIDS.


I won't get into the actual data, but just believe me - the situation in places around the world is so terrible that it's unbelievable, unfathomable, inexpressible.  Google it.  It will blow your mind at how staggering the problem is.


This burden I feel that the Lord has laid on my heart has two parts:


First, how many of these people could we feed?  Or clothe?  Or provide medicine for?  It seems like we're so caught up in the materialism of this world that we have forgotten the "least of these."  It seems like we're so wrapped up in being entertained by sports or music or movies or books that we've turned a blind eye to the real issues that are worth caring about.

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Matthew 25:40

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  James 1:27

Are we (the Church) taking care of widows and orphans?  Are we providing for the "least of these"?  Are we "unstained from the world"?


Second (but most certainly foremost), how many of these people who are dying every day know the saving power of Jesus Christ?  How many of them have even heard the Gospel because we loved them enough to take it to them?

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'  Then I said, 'Here am I!  Send me.'"  Isaiah 6:8

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:19-20

We are all called to take the Gospel to the nations.  We must.  The situation is too desperate to not go.  The command of our Lord Jesus Christ is just that - a command.  There is no option.  In the words of David Platt, "We are the plan of God, and there is no plan B."


How many people will die without Christ while we (myself included) continue to live in disobedience to His command?

Needs

Growing up, one of the lessons my parents tried to impress upon us was the difference between needs and wants. For example, "Mom, I NEED that new shirt" or "I NEED to get that book, Dad!"  Their response?  "You don't NEED it.  You just WANT it..."

So, I was reading in my Bible yesterday morning (working my way through Matthew) and I came across this verse:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Mt. 6:33

I've heard some people use that verse out of context and say that this means if we seek after God that He'll bless our lives and give us a bunch of stuff - the "prosperity gospel," if you will.  But that's not what Jesus was intending at all!

Did you notice the words "all these things" in that verse?  What was Jesus referring to?  Was He talking about all the things this world has to offer?  Look back up at the previous verses.  Jesus has just spent the last 8 verses talking about how birds don't worry about their next meal and lilies don't worry about their clothing, but God still feeds and clothes them.  Jesus says, "Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Christ is promising that if we seek after His kingdom and His righteousness, God will meet our needs - not our wants.  That means when we eat, we should be thankful that God provided our food. Or when we have clothing to wear, we should be thankful that we aren't walking around naked.

BUT, that also means that when we don't have the most stylish outfit in the room, the money to eat at the finest restaurants, the nicest car, the fanciest shoes, the biggest house, the latest technological advances - we should STILL BE THANKFUL to God for providing food for us to eat and clothes for us to wear.  God has provided more than enough to cover our needs. Everything else is just extra.  It's completely unmerited blessing and favor from God.

What right do we have to complain that we don't have the newest or nicest stuff...or, for that matter, about anything at all?


Keep this in mind the next time you think you think that you need something:  80% of the world's population lives on less than 10 dollars a day (that's almost 5 billion people, by the way).  Almost 1 billion people are suffering from malnutrition right now and 100 million of them will die this year because of it.  There are over 145 million orphans in the world and every 90 seconds one of them dies because of malnutrition.


I guess the question has nothing to do with our needs at all.  It has to do with the amount of suffering and injustice and starvation and poverty there is in the world.  It has to do with the fact that thousands of people die every day doomed to spend an eternity in hell because they haven't even heard the name of Jesus.


The question is what are we going to do about it?


Is that need more urgent than our needs?