Here am I, send me

I feel like this has been a quiet prayer of mine for sometime now, here I am send me, quite possibly my whole life. As a child I dreamed of going to far off lands, I would sit for hours looking at the National Geographic magazine imagining myself in the pictures. The excitement of travel is in me still, learning about new cultures and meeting people who live lives very different from my own. My life has been very easy in comparison to that of many people in this world. As a child it never occurred to me that perhaps God was putting those desires on my heart. Only in the most recent past have I come to realize that this could be a possibility. That missions, was in fact my purpose in this world, in this life. I have a longing in my heart to change this world, a longing in my heart to stand up for people who have no one to fight for them, a longing to see with my own eyes the faces of children who have just been handed their first and maybe only meal of the week, the day. I long to see joy in the faces of those who have nothing in the eyes of our western society but because they have found Jesus feel as though they are rich and have everything.

I spent a couple of weeks in Africa this past winter with a team. It was astounding to me how these men, women and children could stand in a place where all around them was suffering, and still lift their hands in praise to the one and only God. True, pure worship, coming from the most honest place. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could praise Him, even in the most difficult time. Instead, I find more often than not we complain, we whine, we blame. We allow our suffering to become almost like another body part. That however, is for another post, another time.

Social justice is one of my passions. Where does that fit in with being a christian? Are we not just a apathetic at times as the rest of society? Do we not fall into the same thinking as most of North America, it is "us and them" instead of "we"? Sure, we give to our church, we even sponsor children through World Vision and Christian Children's Fund, all very good things, but my question is, couldn't we do more? We read about AIDS and Malaria, we see pictures of dying children or orphans, but do we feel it in the very centre of our hearts? Do we truly do what it says in the Bible to speak out for those who have no voice?

Proverbs 31:8-9 (New International Version)

8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."

I don't know what this looks like in all of your lives, I am only figuring it out in my own. It has only taken 35 years!!!! I know that my heart aches for what people in this world are enduring right now, but what exactly am I doing about it? I want to think that if the Lord told me to go, that I would have the courage and strength that Isaiah did when he said "here am I, send me."

Isaiah 6:8

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Do you have the courage?

Lord,

I thank you for your word. I thank you Father that you promise us that you will never leave us, that you will give us whatever we need for whatever the call. Allow us to hold onto your exceedingly great and precious promises. Amen





Here Am I


On the other side of the world
She stands on the ocean shore
Gazing at the heavens she wonders
Is there something more
Never been told the name of Jesus
She turns and walks away
What a shame

Just across the street in your hometown
Leaving from his nine to five
Gazing down the road he wonders
Is this all there is to life
Never been told the name of Jesus
He continues on his way
What a shame

[Chorus:]
Whom shall I send
Who will go for me
To the ends of the earth
Who will rise up for the King
Here am I send me
Here am I send me

Whether foreign land or neighbors
Everyone's the same
Searching for the answers
That lie within your name
I want to proclaim the love of Jesus
In all I do and say
Unashamed

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news
Proclaiming peace and your salvation