I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. – Exodus 20:2 (ESV)
Isn’t it interesting that the majority of Americans will tell you that the Ten Commandments are a list of “thou shall nots?” Actually, close scrutiny reveals that they deal with relationships – the first four with man’s relationship with God and the next six are about man’s relationship with each other.
How fitting it is that the liaison between God and man for the Ten Commandments was Moses. His relationship with God is truly legendary. His time in God’s presence found him anointed with Shekinah Glory. Shekinah Glory denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. It caused Moses to hide his face from Aaron and others when returning from Mount Sinai. How wonderful it would be to enjoy that closeness to God!
Moses was chosen by God, however, because he understood the need of God’s people. A prince in the house of Pharaoh, he saw their despair and suffering. He lashed out to right the wrong himself, slaying an Egyptian overlord. It took 40 years in the wilderness for him to learn what God really wanted him to do to bring relief to His people.
Hopefully, it won’t take 40 years for God to get through to us. As you seek to do what God requires of you, become attuned to how you can help quell physical, emotional and spiritual suffering in the world today and the role relationships play in that. You will find that God does not require guilt from you. He offers no condemnation. He just wants you to be in healthy relationship with Him, His creation and other people. That often means that serving Him means simply doing the next right thing – the thing that honors those relationships.
Adapted from the Discover & Respond 40 Day Devotional (http://fh.org/40daysdevotional). Photo by Jennica Reis, used with permission.
As I prepare to take a team of FH bloggers to Guatemala on August 4, I want to take some time reflect on how God has brought me to this point in my life and how He can use me to help quell physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering in the world today.
I grew up the middle child of 5 with a single mom. I saw my dad once a year until I was a teenager, then he stopped visiting. My parents divorced when I was young, so I don’t remember the love of a father and never experienced his loving discipline or example.
I could imagine the love of a father, but I could never experience it until we had our first child, Emily. That was a pivotal moment for me, beginning a walk that has led me to FH.
For decades, the answer to solving poverty and hunger was to provide resources or food. This doesn’t solve the problem, this just puts a series of bandaids on a gushing wound. At FH, we don’t address poverty or hunger through just providing food or resources, we work to fix the problem: broken relationships. Relationships within families, communities, between people and God.
I’m looking forward to seeing the schools, new wells for clean water, and the churches FH works with in Guatemala. Most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing mended relationships. Seeing people come together around a common cause. Seeing how the work we do will make a sustainable future for a community.
What are things you can do to help mend broken relationships in your life?
Will you join us?
You can join us by following #fhbloggers on Twitter and Facebook. The best way to join us and show a father’s love is to sponsor a child. Your monthly support impacts the life of the child and the community to help mend broken relationships and solve poverty and hunger at its core. We have a surprise for those who sponsor a child in Guatemala over the next 30 days – just forward your receipt email with your sponsored child on it to Lindsey Nobles and we’ll send you a special gift.
Excited to have you with us! Love this perspective.
[…] discussed earlier in this series about how important relationships are to creating a sustainable living. The story of Naomi is an interesting one – it begins with such tragedy. In the first five […]