THE STRUGGLE
Working alongside people who suffer enormously, much more than the average first world complaints, can create a level of helplessness. I can’t fix everything. I can’t force people to make choices I believe are better or best for their lives.
I try to be present in moments of conversation, prayer and assistance. Yet, in the back of my head, there is always a desire to do more. Why can’t things change faster? Why can’t the pain and suffering disappear with a snap of my fingers?
I have these thoughts after late nights on the streets when sleep evades me. I want to see more for the women I encounter. I want them to experience a different life. They do too. Even still, the chasm between their reality and their hopes and dreams feels impossible to overcome on those sleepless nights.
THE HOPE WE HAVE
What keeps me going despite these late night questions?
The truth about resurrection. At the core of my faith in Christ is a promise of hope and new life. What appears to be too far gone, too dark, too dead, can still be brought back to life. In other words, new life is possible. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus show us that things are not always as they appear, what we see is not all there is and the future does not always look the way we expect.
Can you imagine being a disciple when Jesus was arrested, beaten and then hung on the cross? All hope was lost. The plans for the future dashed. How devastating it must’ve been for them! Then, a few days later, something better than they could’ve dreamed took place. Jesus came back to life and changed everything.
Sometimes the work I do seems like the middle time between death and resurrection. Thankfully, what I currently see is not all there is. The story doesn’t end in the middle.
Because of my faith, when I speak with women in dire situations, whether they comprehend it or not, I represent resurrection hope and power that is available to them. God can change their situation. What seems impossible is possible—in the smallest and biggest of ways. This hope we have in Christ is for you, for me and for everyone!
I pray we carry this hope and the power of resurrection today into every situation we face. May we be encouraged that what seems dead can be resurrected. Jesus is working even in the middle.
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