To see or not to see

When you look at a person what do you see? Do you see the faults, the sin, the annoying things? When you look at someone do you judge what they are wearing? Or their story? Or what they are doing with their lives? What do you think about when you look at someone?

This question has come up several times in my life in the last few months and I've realized something about myself. Like any person I have my moments of judging others but more often then not when I look at someone I see the potential in them. And not always where they are at right now but where they could be. This tends to get me in trouble and tends to put me in situation where I end up getting hurt (those can be whole other blogs!). I've been thinking a lot about if I want to work on that and change to protect myself from pain. But the other night I was hanging out with a friend, who recently had hurt me, and they were opening up about some things in their life. As this person spoke, my heart just ached. The pain I saw in their eyes that they tried to mask and the hurt I heard in the voice was enough to make everything in me just want to reach out and fix it and heal the pain. I knew I couldn't and I knew I hadn't even earned the right to speak into their life yet in the deep way that I yearned to. I felt like God told me just to listen so I listened. And as I listened and heard the depth of this person's heart I saw it. I saw the desire for more, the desire to be healthy again, the desire to be different and to be changed, the desire to feel alive again. I saw the potential and it blew me away and broke my heart at the same time because this person person does not see it at all. And it was then that I decided even though I sometimes can see the good in people to a fault I don't want to change. I think I'd rather deal with the pain and hurt that comes from being that way then not being able to see potential and believe in people.

People need someone to believe in them, to see the good in them, to give them the chance to be more than what they are. To be encouraged and to have someone have hope for them when they no longer are able to hope themselves! Isn't that what Jesus did? Not that he excused behavior or sin but he believed in people. And loved people where they were at. He didn't ask them to be more or less, he just loved.

I want to love like that. I want to have hope for those who have no more hope. I want to see the good when no one else does. I want to believe people are more than what they even think they are. I want to see people the way God does.

And this friend......well I don't know how the end will result for them....but I do know that I've done NOTHING but been praying constantly since that conversation that they will see themselves the way God does and the way I do.

Don't give up on people, don't lose hope on them, be one of the those people that believe and that encourage because sometimes that is all someone needs. To know that someone else thinks they can make it.

Swaziland

A couple of weekends ago I watched a documentary on Swaziland called "Dear Francis". Within that hour I experienced many different things within. Anger. Frustration. Sorrow. Pain. Helpless. Confusion. Questions. Tears.

My world got a little bigger. My understanding of the world a little less.

"I've tested 35 people so far today. Only 5 have been negative."

Teaching abstience is not only about a moral/Biblical issue in Swazi anymore. It's a life and death situation and about a culture in danger of being wiped out.

I'm not sure my brain even can grasp the idea of that. How spoiled are we? How selfish? Living our middle class American life where we complain about what we do and dont have. But yet compared to the world we are rich. So rich. We have houses, food, money, and health. Like I said, rich.

What are you doing with your riches?