Thoughts for another day

July 6, 2007

Today's verse: Mt. 7:12. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Across the vastness of the universe, amidst the roaring of the seas and the brilliance of the heavenly bodies, a still small voice, thunders(!). It speaks the above verse; to each one of us. In anxiety does the Lord then wait to hear us say, ‘send me, I will go.’

Out there in the world there are people in great misery. There is bondage so taut that death is welcome relief. Misery abounds. Suffering, well, it’s a foregone conclusion. In the din of human cry and mourning, we see the stark picture of the devil’s army unleash their shenanigans while dancing in the moroseness they have created. People whose gluttony deprives others of one square meal a day. People whose apathy causes untold misery and pain to millions. Fiends, whose tyranny squashes lives and means of livelihood of thousands and thousands. Fiefdoms of terror and moral depravity.

God too needs something from us just as we need things from Him. His purposes span the entire humanity and His desire is that every soul enjoys eternal bliss. Into this foreboding darkness therefore, is the Lord inviting us to go. And He asks, ‘whom shall I send?’ Mostly there is an eerie silence after that, for unlike chirpy students in a classroom, who enthusiastically raise their hands to their teachers’ questions, none here is willing to answer. But Lord, we may say, I have a family. Look my daughter is young; see my dad is so sick; my parish team needs me…our excuses go on.

My friend, open your eyes to the world, don’t be so myopic to look only at your family, He knows how to take care of them. While He has blessed you and me with sufficiency and happiness, what about all those mentioned above. Look at their existence. What if you were there in that situation? Our God loves them too. And He needs us to go to them. The Gospel is the only solution to a deeply wounded earth. His light alone can dispel the darkness enfolding the myriads of denizens of the planet. Pause. Reflect. And then when the Voice says, ‘whom shall I send?’, your answer will be…