The Whole World

Deborah & I were singing "He's got the whole world in His hands" after lunch a couple of days ago, and she didn't want to stop singing when we got to the end of the song. So we were making up extra verses (which we do frequentlywith different songs)- "He's got Deborah & Abigail..., He's got all of the trees..., He's got all of the houses..., He's got all of the water..., He's got all of the cars..., He's got all of the mommies..., He's got all of the daddies..., He's got all of the babies..., (if all that isn't profound in a child-like sort of way, you're missing out on how awesome God is...)

And then we sang "He's got all of the food in His hands" and for some reason this really struck me as profound. I had just been reading about Dr. Paul Brand (he's the guy who discovered that Leprosy really only destroys the nerve endings and then all the damage from leprosy comes with not being able to feel, not knowing you need to close your eyes, not knowing you're stepping on fire or touching stuff that's ripping your hands apart...). I was reading about how he gave his life away, lived like the people he ministered to, how his work has given people back the lives they had lost to leprosy.

Anyway, Dr. Brand is this amazing doctor who gave his life to medical mission work in places like India where children still starve to death, and die from things like ear infections and cuts that get infected. So, I was already thinking about how lucky and blessed I am even though we have so little money right now and we're living with my mom.

And God reminded me that I have plenty of food- even though I sometimes complain about what we can afford, and that Abigail can only eat a limited amount of food; and I miss things I used to be able to do, like go out to eat once a week. We still have plenty of food- we have food in the cupboard and in the refrigerator. We eat three meals a day.

And God reminded me how about half of the world doesn't have plenty of food, and that really the biggest reason is that we who are Christians aren't doing all He intended. All the food in the world is in His hands- In a very real sense we are His hands. We are His plan. We are all that He chooses to use to do His work. The food, the resources are in His hands, but we who are his hands and feet here on earth are not doing all we can (going without sometimes, making steady financial contributions, working in food shelters sometimes...). In fact, we eat more than we really need, we let food sit... We use more resources than we really actually need, and people are starving.

I'm not saying "eat all the food on your plate, 'cuz children in Africa are starving." (I think that's kind of stupid.) What I am saying is that I have no excuse not to be sharing my time and money to help people who don't have food, and I want to teach my children to share what God has given them. I think the best way to teach them is to do it with them. For them to see me practically working out my faith and giving what God has given me...

God, help me do something with this thought. I want to be your hands and feet. I want to share you with other people, and I believe that you care about practical needs like a lack of food. Show me something practical I can do.