Was God Just Kidding?

This was originally posted on 

aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com

I chose to cut and paste this post knowing that some will be more likely to read it without having to click through to another blog. This blogger speaks truth that we all need to hear, including those that already serve.  Elder Dallin Oaks spoke in the October 2012 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and pleaded for all to "Protect The Children". Please take the time to read that talk as well.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Was God Just Kidding?

This post has been mulling in my heart for a really, really long time.  I have prayed.  If you are 'not in the mood', then please just skip it.   If you decide to read, proceed with caution and remember that what I share, I share in love and through deep conviction in my own heart. 

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Remember Lisa {Karl's aunt who instigated the blind date between Autumn and Karl}?  She and her husband and two children are missionaries in Kenya. 

Yesterday morning I received a text message from Lisa asking for prayer.   A little boy whom they call "Little Dwight" from the orphanage where they serve, was having seizures and they could not get the seizures to stop.  They had brought Little Dwight to the hospital and they still would not stop.

Somehow Lisa's text hit me close to home. 

Ruby has seizures.  They are scary.  They are long.  Really long. She had one about 10 days ago when Dw was still in Africa.   Seizures are not something that one ever gets "used to".  Even two of Ruby's neurologists, when I have said, "Seizures freak me out," they each {separately} have responded, "Yes, they're very scary."  {When neurologists who have dedicated their lives to caring for the brain, agree that seizures are scary, that says something!} 

To top it off, Lisa's prayer request was for a little orphan boy with the same name as my husband.

All day long I could not stop praying for Little Dwight, his precious body fighting. 

Later in the day I received this text message:

 "Little Dwight, who has no mama or baba, 

did not wake frm seizure.  

Medicated n sleeping @hospital.  

Pls keep praying." 

A little boy, known by only a few, without a mama or baba...

Tears filled my eyes.  I could feel the sobs coming...

What are we doing friends?
*and*

Do we honestly care?

There are, literally, millions of precious treasures around the world, without a mama or baba. 

Do we care?

I mean, do we really, really care?

And what are we doing about it?

Do we really think that an all-knowing, all-powerful God put us on Earth to ignore the orphan's cry?

Do we really think that Almighty God put us on Earth just to spend the vast majority of our time making ourselves happy?

Do we really believe that the God of the Universe, who wove throughout His word a thread to 'care for the orphans and widow", really meant it as a suggestion for people?  Maybe it was just an idea from God for those who don't have anything else to do?  You know, kind of like, "busy work".  

Or do we think that God was just kidding? 

The thread throughout God's Holy word is to care for the orphan, the oppressed, the poor, the widow, the starving, the imprisoned. 

  And yet, we spend most of our days with little thought for the orphan, the oppressed, the poor, the widow, the starving and the imprisoned.  

Sooooo....was God just kidding?

And why did He use real life examples of people who made a difference through the power of adoption in the Bible?

When God could have chosen any one of thousands of beautiful young women to be Queen and save the entire Jewish nation....He chose an orphaned girl who had been adopted...named Esther. 

WHY?

Because adoption is His heart. 

And if adoption is His heart, what are we doing to beat with His heart?

Oh me.  We're so busy hustling through life:  "busy, busy, busy."

"You have no idea, just how busy!"

I hear people all the time say:  "I am sooooooo busy."

And I don't want to appear rude, so I bite my tongue, but wonder:

"Exactly what are you soooooo busy doing?"

Sweet friends, do we realize that at the end of our days we will give

an account for how we spent our time -

And yes, we will account for what we did specifically to care for the orphan, 

the oppressed, the poor, the widow, the starving, the imprisoned.

Was God Just Kidding?

Each one of us have the same number of hours in our day.

It's true, God gives us each our free will and we can spend our days however we wish.

But I can't help but wonder how much regret there will be when we kneel before the throne?

If there were to be a big screen, revealing our lives, moment by moment....how much wasted minutes, which roll into hours, which roll into days, which roll into weeks, which roll into years? 

Minutes wasted on Facebook

{unless you're using it to primarily advocate for the orphan}

Minutes wasted on Pinterest

{longing for things we can't have and don't really need - ouch!}

Minutes wasted reading Books that hold no eternal value 

{in the end, what do they matter?}

Minutes wasted on Television

{it's basically all garbage, really!}

Minutes wasted on Shopping

{filling our homes with stuff while the rest of the world won't eat}

Minutes wasted on Hobbies

{while more than 350 million don't know if they will eat today}

Minutes wasted on anything but what really matters for eternity.

Which adds up to hours, weeks, months and years.

Was God Just Kidding?

Do we really think that Almighty God is nodding His approval as we spend our days doing nothing that really matters?   Doing nothing to make a difference in the lives of the orphan, the oppressed, the poor, the widow, the starving, the imprisoned? 

Somewhere in life the Western world got the idea that

"if we have earned it, we most definitely deserve it."  Kick back.  You've 'worked' hard enough. 

Friends!! 

We didn't earn it to keep for ourselves.  Actually, we didn't even earn it to "keep most" for ourselves!!  We 'earned' it by His grace and His grace alone - 

to give it away - 

generously!! 

I can't help but wonder how much grief there will be when an accounting is done in eternity? 

Will there be great applause for the bigger home? 

The big boat? 

The super-sized camper with all the frills?

The big 401K? 

The things that brought the applause on Earth?

Not a chance.

Was God Just Kidding?

He most definitely was NOT kidding.

But there is time, friends!!

There is time to change our hearts and our ways. 

There isn't much time, but there is time. 

Repent. 

Turn from the things that steal your minutes, your hours, your weeks, your years and your resources.

Turn off the TV, get out of your comfort zone, get off the couch, get off Facebook, get off whiling away the minutes, the hours, the weeks, the months and the years....

Get involved in caring for the orphan, the oppressed, the poor, the widow,

the starving and the imprisoned. 

Where do you start?

Prayer is the starting point....

Pray for the orphan.  Little Dwight!  The orphans around the world.  The foster care system in the United States.  Those in the midst of adoption.  Those just home from adopting.  Those who are contemplating disrupting their adoption.  The missionaries who tirelessly serve around the world.  The widows in your community {The modern day widow is the single mom.}  Start fasting regularly for all of these needs...

BUT while you are praying - Get busy!  

Don't wait!! 

I know so many people who are using the excuse "I'm still praying about what to do!"

Are you kidding?

The need is there.

What in the world must be prayed about?

Get busy!

Don't wait!

Say you "care?"

{It's an action verb.} 

Prove it!  

Prove it in tangible ways. 

Get involved in real ministry to the orphan, the widow, the oppressed, the poor, the vulnerable - No doubt, it WILL hurt - but it will change your life - for good! 

Then lay your head down at night knowing that because you were alive today - 

the world is a better place - 

because you were alive today - you did all you could to be His hands and His feet - 

to minister God's love 

to those who He so desperately loves....

because no, actually, 

God was NOT kidding.