Wed., Feb. 23rd Update from Joni

Wednesday, February 23rd Update from Joni:

Earlier today I read Doug Mazza’s post from Haiti (check it out on the Joni and Friends blog). I groaned, thinking of so much suffering! Yet Haitians – especially Christians — possess amazing resilience. The joy of the Lord among Haitian believers puts me to shame. It reminds me of the disabled people I met in Africa when we were there giving wheelchairs and Bibles. A disabled boy who lived in a box by a trash heap said, “God has blessed people in your country so much, why are so many unhappy?” Another said, “Welcome to our country where our God is bigger.” I heard it time and again: “We have to trust God. He is our only hope.” 

This isn’t a snobby one-upmanship on whose Purple Heart medals shine the brightest. For these people in developing countries are more like us than we realize. They, too, want what they do not have and have what they do not want, but the difference is the way they look at God — the Lord always seems bigger to those who need Him the most.

Psalm 86:1-4 says, “Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy… Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Who are the poor and needy? It is you, if you see yourself as empty and impoverished. And that’s not bad. When you cry, “Have mercy on me, O Lord,” you are in a great position. God seems bigger when we, in our eyes, seem poor. So let’s bridge the distance between ourselves and those in need in Haiti. Let’s dare not forget their plight; let’s pray, give, serve, donate, and cheer on efforts like Wheels for the World in that country – but most of all, join me today in making yourself small so that we can see how big God really is.