Don't Miss Them

We all have moments when God wrecks our hearts.  I bet you can name at least one if not more. 

The first time God wrecked my heart was at church camp in Alabama the summer before my 7^th grade year.  I do not remember the message that was spoken that night, but I do remember what God did in my heart.  He showed me what a mess my life truly was, what kind of person I really was.  And it wasn’t a pretty picture.  But it was only in that revelation and God’s wrecking of my heart that I came to repentance and a relationship with Him. 

Another time I remember having my heart wrecked by God was once when I was sitting in my room.  I was having my prayer time and I just remember weeping and weeping for the kids out there that are deprived of family.  My heart was broken over the precious children that didn’t have an amazing family that loved them like mine loves me.  My family, both my blood relatives and my Christian family, has shaped my entire life.  I wouldn’t be who I am without them.  I can’t imagine growing up without my big family.  It was that night that I truly knew that my calling in life was to give those kids the family that they deserve.  That I couldn’t keep this amazing family all to myself when there are children out there starving for love.  I am called to adopt.  I do not know exactly how this will be accomplished, whether I will adopt out of the country, in the US, or foster/adopt, but God will reveal the details in His timing.  (I might just want to get out of high school and get married before adopting kids!  Lol)  I only know that I am called to give to others what God has blessed me with.

We all have these moments.  Where God wrecks our hearts and we are changed forever because of it.  Well, God has been whispering something to me for some time now, but I (being my stubborn self) haven’t really been listening all that much.  Tonight, it finally hit me.  Square in the face.  I had been reading on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, posts that my friends had shared about the Super Bowl being the largest human trafficking event of the year.  I read the posts, and just kind of moved on from there, not giving it much more thought.  I kept myself busy pretty much all day today, being with my family and friends, reading my book, watching TV.  Not really thinking about it.  I got home from a Super Bowl party that my youth group had and I watched TV until around 12:45 at night.  Getting to sleep before 1 on Sunday nights is a problem for me because I do not want to acknowledge that the weekend is over and I have to go to school the next day.  But, I finally shut the TV off and start to head to bed.  As is my custom every night, I talk to God as I am preparing for bed.  As I am praying, a thought dawns on me,

I am dreading school tomorrow, when at this very moment, there are girls being sold to men who use them.  They are laying there, dreading the next knock at the door because it means another part of them has been sold to the highest bidder.  And there is nothing they can do about it.

My biggest dread is school on a Monday morning, but there are girls out there who dread getting up every morning because it means another day, another man, one more piece of who they are, their purity, their hearts, their self-worth, will be taken away.  And I’m complaining about school?!?  I am sickened at how selfish I am!  And God finally gets what He has been trying to tell me through my thick skull.

I cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering around me.

It is so easy to do.  Especially where I live.  I love living in rural Indiana, where most everyone goes to church, where you know so many people that you can’t drive down your road half the time without stopping in the middle of the road to talk to someone in the car going past you. (This happens often and effectively blocks the whole road)  But living where I do, it is so easy to ignore things like human trafficking.  Because it doesn’t affect my everyday life.  Just like starvation, threat of death by proclaiming to be Christian, or being afraid to go outside for fear of gang violence doesn’t normally have a front seat in my mind.  Because it doesn’t affect my everyday decisions and concerns.  It is so easy to shove these things aside.  And not only big things like this, but it is so easy for me to forget those suffering right around me.   How many times have I not offered comfort to someone because I am too consumed with my own life and my own “problems” (which likely don’t even compare to theirs) to see them?  I walk right past the girl who is heartbroken because her brother has just died.  I stroll on by the boy who hasn’t slept in 2 days because he spends his nights crying over the stress of having his dad in the hospital while being strong for his family the rest of the time.  I ignore the girl who is reaching out for someone to talk to because she feels so alone.  All because I am too preoccupied with my own concerns to see them. 

One of my favorite movies is called To Save a Life.  It is the story of a high school boy, Jake, who is the most popular guy in school.  Star of the basketball team, dating the most beautiful girl, more friends than he knows what to do with, parties every weekend.  He believes he has it made.  Until an old friend of his commits suicide.  He doesn’t know what to do.  He blew this friend off 3 years ago for the popular crowd, and stood by all the times this boy was being picked on.  Jake wonders if there was something he could have done, some way he could have prevented it.  His friends tell him to stop worrying about it and he tries to, but he just can’t seem to.  Then he meets this youth pastor named Chris.  Christ gives Jake a ride home one night, and Jake begins to tell him about how guilty he feels about not standing up for his friend.  Chris then confesses that Jake’s friend, Roger, had come to his youth group the Sunday before he took his life, as a last ditch effort as it would seem.  Chris begins to talk to Roger, but becomes distracted by something else, and says he will be right back.  Roger then walks out of the church, feeling like an outcast again.  Then Chris says a line that has stuck in my head since the first time I watched the movie.  Chris looks at Jake and says, “I missed him.” 

I do not want to miss someone!  Granted, suicide is the worst case scenario, but other things happen when I miss someone.  I miss a chance to show God’s love and offer hope.  I miss a chance for a great friendship to form.  I miss a chance to love someone.  I miss a chance to let God use me to make a difference.  I miss the chance to show people who Jesus really is.  To show people who Jesus is and how He feels about them, I have to truly care about them.  People can tell if I just see them as a project or if I am just talking to them because I feel sorry for them.  I have to genuinely care about people.  And only the Holy Spirit can enable me to do that.  

This is what I am praying for, not only for me, but for every Christian out there.  That we would all look past ourselves to see the hurting and lost people around us.  That we would be a loudspeaker for God's love.  That we wouldn't miss anyone. 

God, open my eyes!!!  Help me to look past me and my so called problems to see a dying and wounded world!  Let me see that my life is to be lived in the service of others, showing them Your undying love for them.  Forgive me for turning a blind eye to those who need You.  Forgive me for being so selfish.  Help me to take a stand for injustice, to just listen and love people, and to see people, truly see them.  Give me the grace to truly love people like You do, and to genuinely care about them and their lives.  Show me how to love like you.  Help me take the blinders off.  Help me to not miss anyone ever again.