By: Ginger Hughes
Here am I Lord, send me…
Unless it’s to Africa or the Middle East or some other far away place. Afterall God, I don’t know the language or the culture. And what about my safety? Some of these places are dangerous.
Here am I Lord, send me…
Unless it’s to the hospital to visit the sick or the hospice facility to visit the dying. You know how heartbroken it makes me feel seeing this kind of suffering, Lord. It’s too hard to look into the eyes of those who are hurting and not know what to say or how to act.
Here am I Lord, send me…
Unless it’s to my neighbor across the street whose political banner is waving proudly for the “wrong” person. God, clearly we don’t see eye to eye. What kind of people must they be to have voted that way?
Here am I Lord, send me…
Unless it’s to the one who acts out in rebellion, the one who is in prison, the one who curses up a storm, the one who is a different ethnicity or economic demographic. God, who am I to talk with “those” people? What would I say? Besides, they wouldn’t listen to someone like me; it would be a complete waste of my time.
Here am I Lord, send me…unless.
Isn’t this how we often approach God? We say we want to do His will. We say we want to serve. But if we’re completely honest “unless” is a significant part of the equation.
We want to serve unless it’s hard.
We want to serve unless it’s uncomfortable.
We want to serve unless it’s inconvenient.
We want to serve unless it involves change.
We want to serve unless it stretches us.
We want to serve unless it requires sacrifice.
We need to remember that we will never live the life that God intended us to live “unless” we are willing to surrender our entire life to Him. We will never know His full abundance nor a true measure of His peace “unless” we are willing to follow Him with all our hearts. This means going where He wants us to go, serving as He wants us to serve, and loving as He wants us to love.
Here am I Lord, send me. Period.
-Ginger Hughes is the wife of a pastor, a mother of two and an accountant. She is a Georgia native currently living in the foothills of North Carolina. Her passion for writing is fueled by the desire to offer encouragement, grace and a deeper understanding that we are all God’s children. Her blogging for Nurturing Faith is sponsored by a gift from First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga. Additional writings may be found at nomamasperfect.com.
