The Beauty of Your Grace: January 2012

Luke 6:20-25

Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you,
   when they exclude you and insult you
   and reject your name as evil,
      because of the Son of Man.

“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,

because great is your reward in heaven.

For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

God never said life would be easy. God never said we would have rewards on earth for doing good things.

Our reward will not be here. Our reward is better. It is a Heavenly, Eternal reward.

For those of you storing up treasures on earth. Why? You can't take it with you.
It can't give you true happiness. Instead I ask you to think about this. Think about what you can be doing to store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:20)
That's been on my mind a lot. I know I have been guilty of this in the past, but I hope and pray I am never like that again, and I hope that is your prayer as well.

Right now, I feel messed up. I feel messed up for Jesus in this messed up world we live in.
Specifically right now, I'm "Messed up" for Rwanda.
Messed up for Rwanda?? What does that even mean?
David Platt, in his book Radical, “I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what was radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable.”
Being "Messed up" isn't about sticking with the comfortable anymore. It's not about forgetting what you know to be true, but it is about pursuing what God has for you. It's about trusting God-With everything. It's about falling in love with a country and a people so much, that being "Home" in America doesn't feel like home any more.

I guess the best story always begins at the beginning.

I went on a mission trip to Rwanda in November, 2011.
After preparing for the trip, hearing stories from people about their own trips, and realizing that this trip was going to be very different than most mission trips, we were on our way to Rwanda.

On the bus to our hotel, speaking with one of the leaders on the trip, an amazing, Godly man named Cyrus, we were asked a question.
"Are you ready to be messed up?" "Messed up? Yeah, I guess" was our answer.

Little did I know. We weren't just going to be Messed up a little. We were going to be completely, royally, completely messed up.

For those who aren't familiar with the story of Rwanda, it is the place of the 1994 Genocide. In as little as 90-days, over 1 Million people were estimated to be dead. In the country the size of Maryland, this was no small thing. Every single person living in Rwanda at the time was affected in some way. Entire families were wiped out, children horrifically murdered, and unspeakable acts of torture inflicted on innocent people. Seventeen years later, the country is slowly picking up the pieces, but it is still a slow, painful process.
I highly encourage you to watch this video to better understand this:
Reconciliation Documentary Trailer "As we Forgive"
Take a moment.
Could you forgive?
Could you live next to and have meals with the man who killed YOUR family?

This is what we encountered on the trip.

We met women, children, those who lost everything. Their children, their parents, their siblings. People who have every right to hate the very ground the murderers walk on, don't you think?

These people weren't doing that. In fact, some of them live right next door to them. They babysit their children. Share meals together.
They have chosen to forgive.
They have embraced what Jesus did for us on the cross when he said "Father, Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing".

Rosaria told us "If my God has forgiven me, a sinner. How can I not forgive them too?"

Leaving that beautiful country and those beautiful people was one of the hardest things I've had to do.
I was "Messed up".

In fact, "Messed up" doesn't even begin to cover it.
I realized I could never go back to the way I had been living.
My shallow-ness, my selfish-ness, my way of living all had to change.

Royally messed up for this.
Completely ready to surrender everything and go if God is sending me.
But for now, Waiting. Praying and hoping that this "Messed up" attitude never goes away. Never dies down. Never changes.