2 Corinthians 4:17-18
I struggled this week with comfort. At first it was my own comfort. I was hot, sweaty, tired, nauseated, achy (from the hard bed and sitting in the back of a truck riding down roads that are not paved). I itched from bug bites, my showers were too cold, Internet access was sketchy, talking to my family was hard, and my feet became swollen.
The night our devotion was over these verses, I vividly remember saying "this is light and momentary affliction. I focus so much on my comfort on this earth that I step out of my comfort zone to help those in need".
Throughout the week, though, I saw peddlers on the street selling any good they had access to, Haitians working in the tin market in the heat and humidity, children living in buildings that were broken down and provided no real safety, human trafficking, children with no clean clothes, no access to showers, limited access to foods, little to no access to caregivers who actually cared, homes with no electricity and running water, no beds, markets where meat is left out to be sold, trash that fills the street, smells of urine and everything else engulfing a place where food is bought.
And I only thought about my comfort. About how I felt being there and how I would feel if I lived there and then deemed that "sacrifice".
Now I'm on a plane home, wrapped in a blanket because I'm cold. I'm thinking about the people I saw and I met. The people who own businesses, raise their children, are hospitable, believe in the good of others, and love their country. And I'm asking God "why do I get to go home to the States where my life is comfortable? Why do I not have to starve? Why do I have food and clothing and access to air conditioning?"
And this verse came to mind "this light and momentary affliction is producing for you an eternal weight of glory".
I don't understand why some of us have, what seems to be, worse afflictions than others. I don't understand why some children are allowed to be orphans, why some are trafficked, why some of us get to live in first world countries while others live in third world countries. I don't understand why some of us have more than enough food every day and others are lucky to get one meal a day. I don't understand why my afflictions are anxiety, and my sisters in Haiti struggle with finding jobs, feeding their children, and having a safe place to sleep. But I do know this: whatever our affliction is IT IS MOMENTARY compared to the ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY.
Jesus is coming back. This world is temporary. Praise the LORD. It's temporary. And God has so much more for us in Heaven than we can ever imagine. There is hope.
