He is Good

I am going to step on my soapbox for just a little minute and then I will get down and proceed with our regularly scheduled programming. I was in the dollar store earlier today and I overheard a conversation between a couple of women regarding the American Idol "Idol Gives Back" episode that aired this past week. I will come back to that in a minute. Let me just tell you that I wept during the segment of the show with Annie Lennox - it showed her visiting a little girl in Africa who has HIV and who was sick with pneumonia. It was one of the hardest things I have ever watched and thinking about it even now just breaks my heart. Her Mom had HIV and did not get help in time and the disease was passed on to her daughter. The little girl was so thin and every breath was labored. I thought for certain they would go on to tell us that she had passed away. Rather, it showed Ms. Lennox visiting the girl a few months later and she had gained weight and was doing so much better. I was amazed at the improvement that medication had obviously made for this little one. I stopped and thought how much it must grieve the heart of God to see one of His precious little ones suffering so much. I am so thankful that this little girl received help. How many more go without? There are countless children in the same situation. It may be malaria or a host of other diseases that can be treated, if not cured, by medications that we have readily available here in the U.S. Now back to the dollar store ladies. They were going on about all the money that was raised and how they were sure that all of it was going to Africa (this said with great disdain) and none of it was staying here in the U.S. I'm guessing these same women probably didn't give two nickels themselves, but nonetheless felt inclined to criticize the destination of the funds. For what it is worth, the Idol Gives Back Foundation indicates on their website that grants are given to charitable entities both in the U.S. and abroad. I think the thing that bothers me most is that people somehow feel that Americans are more worthy of help than people in other parts of the world whose circumstances are almost always infinitely more dire than those faced by anyone in the U.S. That is just the truth. Most of us have NO idea the poverty that a huge percentage of our world lives in. I can't help but wonder why I was born into luxury while so many others come into the world and must fight for their very existence. I do know this from Luke 12:48 - From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Likewise, Proverbs 24:12 - Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act.
James 4:14 tells us, "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." I don't want to look back on the time that God gave me on this earth and see that I misused the resources that He entrusted to me. My eyes have been opened, I have been given much, and I will give back to God what He has so generously given to me. I have come to trust in His faithfulness more than I ever have in my entire life. He is good.