I've sat here and tried to find the words to explain what happens on a daily basis. We have been given the duty, the responsibility, the honor to pick up ridiculous amounts of food and to make sure that it ends up in the hands of those who need it. I got up today, Labor Day '10, and drove my blue Chevy pickup to the local grocery store only to have it filled completely with produce, breads, deli and dairy items. What happens next is even better. On Tuesday morning at 10:30, volunteers arrive at 15 Perry St. Newnan, Ga to sort out this food into family sized bags. People are singing. People are praying. People are laughing and people are crying. Some are believers. Some are just curious. At around 11:30, the food is loaded into several vehicles, at which point, we divide and show up at various locations around Coweta County to deliver relief to those in need.
Need is indiscriminate. It doesn't care how long you have been without. It doesn't care about skin color or age. Sometimes the food ends up in the hands of those who never had much. Sometimes it ends up in the hands of those who make bad choices. Sometimes it ends up in the hands of those who have been making six figure incomes but, due to a failing economy, are left without a job and stuck with a mountain of bills. Through this transfer of food from one hand to another, relationships are developed.
I remember one day in particular when most everything had been distributed except for a few loaves of bread. As a friend is engaged in conversation with a single mother who happens to be in an abusive relationship, I'm on the next block engaged in prayer with a single mom for her infant daughter who has been experiencing seizures. Its mind blowing, really.
"Who am I?" "Are you sure you have the right person, Lord?" These are questions raised throughout the bible by those who would go on to be soldiers for Christ simply because they obeyed. By our standards, it didn't make any sense for God to call someone who had been orphaned then raised by a pagan slave driving culture. It didn't make sense that God would call someone who had murdered another human being to be the one who would lead the exodus of God's people out of bondage. (By the way, bondage is also indiscriminate.) Exodus 4:2 Moses questioned God about the possible disbelief of the people he was to deliver. God responded "What is that in your hand?" This was not a case of God having a mental hick up and not knowing what was in Moses' hand. He wanted Moses to realize what was in his hand. In this case is it was a staff, a stick that, as the story progresses, would turn into a snake that would devour the snakes of the Egyptian magicians,be used to bring water from a rock, and even split the Red Sea. Talk about a serious miscalculation for Moses! In spite of Moses' doubts, the story goes on to say that God loved him.
In September '09, God called a couple of singers with no organizational skills and a very bad case of ADD (we still can't agree on who has it...) into a ministry that feeds His people physically as well as spiritually. We have been called to lead His people out of bondage. Some will follow. Some will find themselves wondering aimlessly in the desert. There will be impossible circumstances. There will be hardships. There will be victories. Will you accept the challenge? Will you answer to the call? John 21:15-17 God asked Peter repeatedly "Do you love me?" and, after Peter's struggles with his own flaws and failures, God still commissioned him to "Feed my sheep". God's question for you - "Do you love me?".....