View of God

On my first trip to Kenya, I traveled to a boys boarding school outside Mombasa. It was a difficult trip over tough roads traveling to this school high up on a hill. Upon arriving, we met with some Christian boys in their library. Remember those movies you've seen where they go in to the library and it's so dusty, the pick up a book and blow the dust off it? That's what the library was like. It was a 10 foot by 20 foot building with no electricity but light was not a problem as there were enough holes in the mud and stick walls to let in ample light.

My job at the school was to talk to these young men about their relationship with God and to encourage them to stay in the Word. Little did I know that I would learn so much from them. After my little talk, one of the boys stood up to lead the group in prayer. As I bowed my head and closed my eyes to pray, not only did this boy begin praying, but all the boys in the room began to pray. Out loud! It surprised me so much that I took a little peek and was blown away by what I heard and saw. I could hear some of the boys near me just pleading with God and begging God, some of them with tears flowing down their cheeks. And while I could not hear everyone, it was clear from the expressions on their faces that they were having deep and intense conversations with God.

It was at that point that I realized the God these boys served was different than the God I served. It really shook me up, I was the great bible scholar from America and these were just a bunch of high school boys living on the top of the hill. They didn't have electricity, cell phones, hey they didn't even have ipods! Suddenly, all the stuff I had didn't seem half as important as the relationship with God they had.

Here's my challenge to you. What if God came to you and told you that because of all the people on the earth today He was really busy and would not be able to handle your prayer requests anymore. Suppose He told you that while He still had a home for you in heaven when you died, you were on your own for all you needs in this life. How significantly would that affect your life? While I want to say God plays such a key role in my life that it would devastate me, when I dig a little deeper, I find a truth that is not so appealing. How much do I depend on God as opposed to Kroger, and my doctors, and my money, and my talents. The ugly truth is that maybe it would not be as devastating as I like to think and that really bothers me.