Author's note: This post was written on June 24, 2009
We live in a world where one 5 year old gets a birthday party worth hundreds of dollars, and another 5 year old doesn't get to eat everyday. We live in a world where one 26 year old lobbies and protests and participates in freedom's process, and another gets gunned down for walking down the street during a protest. We live in a world where one 9 month old gets held and kissed and loved every waking moment of their day, while another never feels the loving touch of another. Some 16 year olds spend their days in a safe classroom environment, while others spend their days worrying if the latest man who raped them had HIV.
Some 8 year old children play and learn and grow, while others labor in sweatshops as modern day slaves. Some mothers get to worry if their child's private school is the perfect fit, while others worry that their child's complete lack of education will continue a vicious poverty cycle. Some womens fashion concerns are to make sure their outfits match and are in season, while others worry that if their wrist shows they will be stoned in the street. Some children have bedrooms, bathrooms and playrooms all to themselves, while others sleep on street corners each night. Some little girls have daddy's who love and value and cherish their daughters, while some little girls feel unwanted because their birth as a girl brought shame to their family.
We live in a world where some people sin by killing and enslaving, and where others sin equally by turning a blind eye to painful realities. We live in a world where some take and deplete and steal blatantly, and where others selfishly gain and hoard in the name of capitalism. Our world is home to those who kill because of religion and stereotype because of skin color. It houses the materialistic, the chauvanistic, and the legalistic. It is home to the privileged and wealthy, as well as a home to the poor and forgotten.
Many of our world's residents have no voice, but you and I have voices that can change reality for the voiceless. Millions in our world feel unloved, but the Christ Follower has an abundance of love to share. Our God, our Savior desires to pour out HIS mercy and love onto the sinner, the forgotten, the privileged, and the enslaved. He desires selfless deeds from His children to cry out for the voiceless, to care for the orphan, to comfort the grieving, and to free the slave.
My prayer for myself, and for the rest of us, is that we will forget the notion that we are powerless and cannot make a difference. I pray that our hearts do not forget the painful afflictions of our worlds residents that we hear about everyday. I pray that we boldly go and proclaim the name of Jesus AS WE SERVE. I pray for supernatural and physical freedom to be claimed by the captive, and for supernatural and physical healing to envelop the sick. I pray for homes for the oprhaned, and for freedom to the oppressed. I pray for blinded eyes to see, and for deaf ears to hear who is Faithful and True. That is my prayer for our world.
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