Since I started blogging back in October 2009 I have noticed a common theme: Life Sucks! Every day it seems I get confronted with so much hardship: Poverty, orphans, starving kids, homeless, beggars, AIDS, sickness, bombings, killings, rape, oppression, injustice and even demon possession. So much of what happens every day I don’t even bother telling you, because it would get you depressed! I should be crazy or had a melt-down by now if you believed what Shrink’s say!
So how should I respond to all this stuff?
Option One: It is easy to just stop at “Life Sucks” and then wallow in despair and self-pity, or
Option Two: I could gloat and become arrogant because my life is better than some other poor sucker.
Option Three: I could just close my eyes, get a HD TV with 500 channels and ignore the pain in the world. I could also good job with stable mildly wealthy people (I am sure they have less problems)! I am sure that dream world exists somewhere!
Well, I cannot ignore people’s pain, and if I did, I am certain I would go crazy. I hope I will not become arrogant and I have my wife to put me in my place. I don’t really want to be depressed, it is pretty tough to climb out of that hole. . . I’ve been there before! Some days I have just have no answers for people pain.
So, I guess I only have one more option: Do my best and trust God. I cannot be the savior of the world. Jesus volunteered for that role. I cannot fix poverty for the whole nation of Cambodia, nor the political and economic mess of America. I can affect my own attitude and the lives of a few people around me! So even if I only can help a few people I guess it is better than the other three options.
Considering the overall theme of my Jungle Adventures blog, it is pretty clear that my life is certainly a wild adventure. Through my trust in Jesus I have hope for Cambodia and hope for the world. So I am going to have as much fun as possible in the face of the world’s reality and do my best to change it into what God desires! Some of the coolest and most inspiring things I have ever experienced had nothing to do with traveling through the jungle and meeting new tribes, or visiting different countries and experiencing their cultures; no, the best thing is when I do something which changes someone’s life for the better. Sometimes it is huge: like helping a kid graduate from High School and go onto college (and he is the first in his village or tribe to do so). Or other times it is as simple of giving away pieces of cake to kids who never knew what a birthday cake tasted like. Either way they are happy and both of our hearts were blessed too.
Life sucks, but it doesn’t have to suck all the time! Jesus is in the business of using people like me and you to help others get out of their despair. So I’ll just keep doing what he wants me to do until everything gets better! Life doesn’t suck, it is just an opportunity to help people smile!
Steve, I enjoyed reading this perspective to begin my day. I plan to share it! Thank you.
-bw-
Great blog, trusting in God and being a light to your own small world is my philosophy too. Thanks for the great pictures on your new camera!!!!