More Thoughts Along the Same Lines
My thinking on the situation I mentioned yesterday continues.
Today, I tried to put myself in the shoes of a mom in this poverty. If I could not feed my children, what would I do? If I saw a building that looked safe where I knew the children ate 3 square meals a day and where they had an opportunity to move farther ahead than I could ever offer them, what would I do?? This is the very choice a mom makes when she gives a child up for adoption... she desires the very best for her child and is willing to sacrifice a lifetime of watching them grow up just so that they can have a loving family.
I'd like to say that nothing in the world would lead me to lie about my children and give them away. And yet, I've never, ever gone hungry. I don't know what it feels like to wait on literal, physical provision from the Lord for weeks on end.
There are no easy answers here. Christians are to love God and love their neighbor as themselves. I believe that the personal burden we feel to prevent hungry, lonely children stems directly from this command. Do I want myself to starve? No. Do I want myself to thirst? No. Then why should I ignore it in my neighbor when it is in my ability to assuage it. How can I ignore it and call myself a Follower of Christ?
I constantly battle with this. My prayers constantly reflect a desire to walk as Jesus walked - caring both for those who had nothing and for those who had everything in the world's eyes. His care involved the physical, mental, and the spiritual. He is my example. He said 'Follow Me.' He knows that my heart earnestly seeks to follow Him, however haphazardly it appears from the outside as I live out this calling.
Today, I tried to put myself in the shoes of a mom in this poverty. If I could not feed my children, what would I do? If I saw a building that looked safe where I knew the children ate 3 square meals a day and where they had an opportunity to move farther ahead than I could ever offer them, what would I do?? This is the very choice a mom makes when she gives a child up for adoption... she desires the very best for her child and is willing to sacrifice a lifetime of watching them grow up just so that they can have a loving family.
I'd like to say that nothing in the world would lead me to lie about my children and give them away. And yet, I've never, ever gone hungry. I don't know what it feels like to wait on literal, physical provision from the Lord for weeks on end.
There are no easy answers here. Christians are to love God and love their neighbor as themselves. I believe that the personal burden we feel to prevent hungry, lonely children stems directly from this command. Do I want myself to starve? No. Do I want myself to thirst? No. Then why should I ignore it in my neighbor when it is in my ability to assuage it. How can I ignore it and call myself a Follower of Christ?
I constantly battle with this. My prayers constantly reflect a desire to walk as Jesus walked - caring both for those who had nothing and for those who had everything in the world's eyes. His care involved the physical, mental, and the spiritual. He is my example. He said 'Follow Me.' He knows that my heart earnestly seeks to follow Him, however haphazardly it appears from the outside as I live out this calling.
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