Could you Survive on $1.25?

"For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God." Isaiah 58:2

For the past year of my life I have had my eyes opened to the poor like never before.  I have always known there were poor people.  I have had compassion on them and given to the needy.  I have given money by sponsoring children or paying to send people on mission trips.  I have donated supplies or used goods from my home.  I have even been so gracious as to give of my own time to "Serve" them on a trip that always made me feel good. I am sure many of you can say that you have done much of the same.  Is it enough?  Have we missed the boat and forsaken the commands of God?

Nearly 1.3 million people survive on less than $1.25 a day. Could you do that? Everyday 21,000 children die from preventable, curable diseases. It does not have to be so.

I have been looking for free or cheap activities to do with my 4 children this summer.  We have spent a lot of time riding bikes and hiking trails at local parks.  It has been a blast!  I had an awakening this morning.  I was so proud of myself for being a "fun mom" and coming up with great active things for us to do.  After we finished our "free" bike ride and played at a splash park, I pulled out our cooler and gave everyone a big cold Gatorade and a snack of their choice.  I had even shared with my boys what a great thing it was for us be focusing on free activities, saying things like "We don't have to spend money to have fun.  There are many 'poor' children in the world that do these things everyday!" (Please accept my disgusting confession)  What I failed to mention was that those children live a lifetime without a Gatorade and never have the gift of choosing any snack they want.

"Day after day they seek me out..." I have asked the Lord to open my eyes to see the poor and understand poverty in a new way.

In the past, I have believed that, because someone was poor, they were different from me. In my ignorance, the Lord has been so faithful to reveal to me my very own poverty.  The cost of one drink is the total amount that many families survive on.  I will continue to "Day after day seek Him out..."  For I have a LONG way to go.

"They seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right..." Seem eager... as if. The Lord knows us so well.  We are a nation guilty of appearing to be one way, while our hearts are disconnected from the truth.  It is time for authentic action.  We need to stop speaking idle words. 

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Proverbs 14:23

The truth my friends, is that many of us are living in extreme poverty and do not even realize it.  We talk a big talk, but our hearts are far from understanding.  We seem eager to help those around us and live our lives as if we are following God's commands, but there is no action.

We may not have to survive on only $1.25 a day, but that is the value that many of us put on our time with the Lord.  Just enough of Jesus, just a few minutes and we are satisfied.  We treat our relationship with our Savior as if He is pocket change-thankful that we have Him when we need a drink.  Not only are we closing our eyes to the physical poverty in our world, we close our eyes to our spiritual depravity, ignoring God's calls for us to do more, and go out for a nice dinner, again.

Jesus surrounded himself with poor people.  He healed them. He taught them.  He fed them.  He loved them.  He changed their lives forever.

We don't have to move out of our nice homes and quit eating out in order to do the same.  It is time though that we open our eyes to the needs around us and take a step to putting an end to poverty.  I want to challenge you to go to survive125.org and play the game.  Challenge your family and friends to play as well!  The pictures you will see are of women that really do survive on $1.25 a day.  What can you do to make a difference in their lives?  You could sponsor a child www.compassion.com/joyfulmom or you could commit to giving $20 a month to support a Child Survivor Program.

We have to change our way of thinking.  The families that I believed for so long were different than me, are really not different at all.  They are mothers trying to be good wives and raise good children.  They are dads working and worrying about how to provide for their families.  They are children who find joy in small things and just want someone to love them.

Will you join me in being that "someone"?  You can make a difference! 

I am ashamed to say, that I am pretty sure that I could not survive on $1.25 a day.  But, I don't want to settle for that amount of Jesus either.  We can make a difference by giving our resources and time to help end extreme poverty around our world, but it must not stop there.  It is time for us to accept the challenge of ending extreme spiritual poverty that is killing our marriages, homes and lives right here and now.  Let's stop "seeming" eager and living "as if". 

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help , and he will say: Here am I." Isaiah 58:6-9