Blessed

I am blessed. We live in a "get more" society. We have a mindset that we need to accumulate and accumulate in order to be happy. But you know what all that stuff becomes, and ultimately, what it is? Filth. Rubbish. Trash. It doesn't last. It doesn't satisfy. It doesn't fulfill. There is more to life than material things. This weekend I got to see people who had no "stuff" left to fill their lives. Some of them didn't have hope... but some of them did. There is nothing in this world that satisfies like Christ Jesus our Lord. He is greater than anything. Our group had a time of sharing what we were taking away from the weekend of serving Katrina victims in Slidell, Louisiana and one of the guys said that he was taking away an appreciation of what he had, and a realization that it really isn't worth that much. So many of us don't appreciate how materially blessed we truly are. But I would bet that more of us don't realize how worthless our "stuff" is. Stuff isn't worth holding onto. Don't let the world suck you in. Let Christ be your all. I had the privilege to work in the homes of people who lost nearly all their material possessions through the havoc of Katrina. These people were so encouraged by our being there, but they encouraged us so much. They offered us everything they had... and they had just had nearly everything taken away from them. I don't think I have the words to describe what I experienced this weekend. I can't tell you what it is like to have a joy that wells up inside of you even in the midst of heartache. My heart hurts for you, but I know that God's purpose is bigger than your pain. There has been so much pain that I have seen in the lives of friends, family, people of our nation, people of our world. I'm sure the majority of you have heard the song Held by Natalie Grant... it has become a great song during this time of tragedy. I never tire of hearing it... Maybe you will find some encouragement from the words...

Two months is too little,
They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from his mother while she prays
Is appalling.

Who told us we'd be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We're asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It's unfair.

This is what it means to be held
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held.

This hand is bitterness,
We want to taste it, let the hatred numb our sorrow
The wise hands open slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow

This is what it means to be held
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved
And to know that the promise was
when everything fell we'd be held

If hope is born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait for one hour
watching for our Savior?

This is what it means to be held
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved
And to know that the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held.