here and now

  As I drive to Target I wonder why going to Africa as a missionary seems like a more obedient response to God than ministering to the lost around me? As I take an early morning shower I think about why adopting an orphan from China seems like a more worthy response to God’s love for me than adopting a family in my church for the holidays? While I write a paper at a local coffee shop I wonder why the face of a brown-eyed girl sold into sex slavery on the other side of the world moves my heart toward compassion but the woman selling herself on the corner downtown brings quick judgement? 

I have yet to come to any sort of conclusion to the vast questions racing through my mind and I hope I never do. I want to keep thinking and searching for answers, avoiding the stagnant waters of complacency. Yet for today I think about why we are so consumed with thoughts of far off places, being confident that if we were there we would be living a life of purpose. If we are so sure of that then why are we still here? I’m here because God brought me here and it is indeed a land with people just as lost and in need of God’s love as the children playing in the slums of India. I’m confident God has called people to go and an obedient response to that call is likely the only path to fully understanding God’s purpose for their life. I’m also sure that the call to stay is just as worthy of being answered. My biggest fear of staying is becoming comfortable, as I look around I have noticed that we have become good at shielding ourselves from the need. We change the channel, we drive on the other side of town and we don’t talk to the man sitting on the bench. Maybe staying is really seeking. Maybe we need to live radically right where we are. Maybe the people around us need us to stay...