Beth Moore writes in Breaking Free: "What is G0d proposing we fast from in these verses? What do we have to give up or fast from to reach out to the oppressed? G0d took me to the other side of the world to supply a few answers to these questions. In Ind!a these verses came to my mind more than any others. If you're looking for a fun little missi0n trip, keep Ind!a out of your travel plans. I'm not sure any other nation is quite like Ind!a. You never get away from its suffering. Pain follows you down the streets in the form of orphaned, filthy beggars. It penetrates your hotel room with the eerie sound of H!ndu music played to appease at least 300 million g0ds. Agony stings your eyes as you stare at the sea of poverty. It wretches in your throat when you smell the rotting flesh blocks away from the leper colony. When I returned, people asked me if I had a good time. No. Actually, I didn't have a good time. I had a profound time. I will never be the same. I can't forget what I saw.
What kind of fast did G0d require of me as He sent me to minister one-on-one to the oppressed? A fast from comfort. A fast from my pretty little world. A fast from rose-colored glasses. The fast I enjoy in Houston, as freeways loop around the inner city to keep me from facing the poor. I can live days on end here, stay in my very own neighborhood, and choose to deal only with petty problems that smell better. I can choose to fast from poverty and oppression. But if I do, I'll never have a heart like God's.
One of the purposes of a fast is for the emptiness to prompt us to a spiritual response. The emptiness in the people of Ind!a brought back vivid memories of my own one at a time. So many things tore at my heart. The faces most engraved on my heart are those of the women. Heads covered. Meek. Many to the point of seeming shamed. I stood in a village with raw sewage running only a few feet from me and spoke to four women through an interpreter. I wasn't planning to. The $pirit just came over me. I touched their faces and told them they were so beautiful. I told them that G0d saw them with great dignity and honor. Like princesses. Within a few moments four women turned into many. I still can't think about it without crying. They wept, held on to me, and were willing to do anything to receive such a $avior. They knew their circumstances might never change, but one day they would lay down this life and wake up in the splendor of G0d's presence."
George Mueller's secret:
"There was a day when I died:
*Died to George Mueller: to his tastes, his opinions, his preferences and his will.
*Died to the world -- its approval or censure.
*Died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends.
Since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto G0d."
2 comments:
I needed that. Thank you.
You guys are at the forefront of our prayers...what you are willing to do brings tears to my eyes EVERY time I get on your blog. God is using you through this blog as well as in your new country!
we are thinking of you and lifting you up to Him.
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