Consider your “why”…(HINT: It is LOVE!)
Dear Friends,
As I traveled across the continents last week, I kept hearing, “why”. Why am I making this long journey? Why are these people giving their time, talents, and resources to make this journey possible? To the natural mind it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but God reminded me that He is super-natural. As I wrestled with my thoughts, He also reminded me that He is not known for doing things the natural/conventional way; for instance:
- Jesus spit in the dirt and made mud to heal a man’s eyes…
- Elisha lay on top of a little boy, arm to arm, nose to nose, and prayed, and the little guy sneezed seven times and was well… (2 Kings 4:35)
- He spoke to Moses from a burning bush that wasn’t consumed…
- He has prophets smack rocks, float axe-heads, and part the sea to help his people.
Why? Because of His great love wherewith he has loved us!
Why? Because of His great love. Because He loved us, and revealed himself to us, we take up this mission to love others. Because He offers us hope, we extend that hope to anyone we can. In my eleven years in ministry, we have done many unconventional things. Things that were outside the norm of what people expected, but when God is at the center, these unconventional plans work together to increase the kingdom, and reach many, many people with the love, with the hope, of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Friends, it is this same powerful, amazing, love that compelled you to read this post, or visit Uganda, or Sponsor a child- a love that draws us to go into “the hedges” of Eastern Uganda and take this message of the gospel of peace to those who are hurting. To offer hope to those who are hopeless. To set the captive free in Jesus name.
While many of you won’t ever meet the people you are supporting, we know that the love that is reaching them is eternal. Your prayers are changing lives.
You are here because someone shared the love and hope of Christ with you. And we are in this ministry, because someone shared the love of God with us. We are one in our purpose to share the love that we have received, with people, even to the ends of the earth. God has compelled us to be love today, tomorrow, and as long as we’re here.
Because he has compelled us, we will prevail. And because he has given us this mission to love the people of Eastern Uganda and beyond, I am here today with you.
This love drives us, pushes us to step outside our comfort zone and do challenging things for the kingdom of God. And I believe you are here tonight because God is leading you to help build His kingdom, to help bring hope to the “least of these” – hope to a generation of people who did not have any truth, any light. Not only that, they had no fresh water to drink, and one person died every day in our village – there was no means of getting out of the poverty they were in. There was nothing and no one.
But our God is supernatural!
I’ll leave you with this thought that, in this world, love perseveres.
UCSS friends and partners have come together and families in Uganda have survived, and even thrived because of the love that compelled people from across the world to give, to build, to visit our villages, to protect the message of God’s unconditional love.
My friends, from now on, when we wonder why we should continue this journey of the great commission – or any area of our lives for that matter – may the words of the apostle Paul resound: it is because the love of God compels us to fight another day – to reach those for whom Christ died.