By Elaine Reimers, Adult Ministry Director
As I write this, I am sitting in a coffee shop staring out the window, thinking about all the different stories happening around me. I am grateful I live in a country where this is possible. I can sit here basically without fear of anything or anyone. I am blessed to have been born in and live in a country where we rarely experience persecution or terrorism, and where we almost always have electricity, plumbing, food, and drinking water (not to mention all the other amenities we have access to in the US). Of course, we pay for most of those amenities, but let's not forget that many of the things we consider necessities, and so often take for granted, are inaccessible and nearly unattainable in other countries. I write all of this not to shame us for being blessed to be in the US, but rather to call upon my friends, family, and brothers and sisters in Christ to recognize and reflect on how merciful God has been to us as He lavishes us with His unending grace, love, and forgiveness.
In my day-to-day at Mission Adelante, I have the privilege of meeting people from all places and experiencing life with the special people I have grown to love who allow me into their circle. I have attended birthday parties and other events and shared meals at their homes. Throughout the years, I have listened to people talk about their home countries with such pride, longing, and nostalgia, and I have heard so many stories of their loyalty to the US that I have lost count. Despite the myriad of amenities in the US, many have said they are grateful for the simple opportunity to earn a steady income, mostly so they can help their loved ones back home, and have a place to live - the basics. Let's be honest, how many of us hustle because we want more than just the basics? We work hard to save for that next vacation, a new car, a bigger, better house, and maybe even for our retirement. We tend to want it all, and thank God that if we work hard and manage the money we earn, we are blessed with the opportunity to attain it all.
As most of you know already, our country is in the middle of a tumultuous and seemingly unprecedented time. Animosity, division, and uncertainty plague the air. Maybe it's just me, but the weight of it all crushes my spirit a little every day. Thank God for new mercies and joy each morning, because without them, I doubt any of us could go on. Along with the beautiful things of my day-to-day work in adult ministry mentioned in the previous paragraph, I have heard about and lent a hand, an ear, and prayers to some of the most heartbreaking situations you could imagine. They have been situations that have confronted my flesh, wounded my soul, and convicted me of living in my own little entitled, bullet-proof bubble. I have learned to take NOTHING for granted. Even the air we breathe is a gift, and God's Word in Genesis 2:7 leads me to believe it is the ultimate unmerited favor, for without the breath of God in our lungs we would be a lifeless body made from the dust of the ground.
Wake up! I am speaking to myself also when I urge each one of us to cry out to God in the words of David in Psalm 139: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." We must guard our hearts against the false sense of security and personal sovereignty we all feel sometimes when we think about the projects we are working on and the wealth we are building for ourselves. Remember, we need breath to do all of these things, and without God, we would be a lifeless mound of dirt. We have been blessed with life and life in abundance, not because we did anything, but simply because God loves us. I am convinced that if we accept God's unconditional love for us, demonstrated in His giving up His one and only Son to die on a cross for our past, present, and future sins, we will find within ourselves the way to love others with this same type of love. I believe we would feel called to be a part of the solution to all this turmoil around us. We would no longer be able to turn our heads and look the other way. A smile, a hug, a listening ear, and a prayer for someone cost nothing but time and a little effort, just a few tugs on your heartstrings, and that little bit of effort can turn a mountain into a molehill for someone.
Although I believe accepting and truly knowing the reckless love of God for us while we were still sinners is sufficient to convince us we should love our neighbors whether or not we can find a reason they are worthy of it, the Word of God states this in 1 Peter 4:8-11: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
The bottom line is that we have been blessed to bless others. I pray God and His Holy Spirit would bless all of us with an abundance of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and, of course, money and free time. In Jesus' precious name, Amen!