On My Heart

Do you ever have those moments when you feel like God is working in you?  The other night I had one of those moments.  I don't know exactly what to do with it or what His plan is but I'm sure He'll let me know when He's ready.

I was watching a segment on 60 Minutes with my husband.  The piece contained an interview with Bill Gates (Microsoft gazillionaire if you weren't sure who that was).  The story was about his desire and efforts to eliminate certain diseases from the world through advanced research and technology.  For example - creating machines to kill mosquitoes to rid Africa of malaria or creating refrigeration devices to hold antibiotics without the use of electricity (which is hard to come by in third world countries).

Although I was impressed with what the Gates Foundation is doing I was more struck by something Bill said. And it's been on my heart ever since.  He made reference to the fact that people in this country spend money on all sorts of frivolous things while people in other countries die because they don't have basics like medicine, clean water, or refrigeration.

I think his comment was meant more to explain his desire to use his money on something worthwhile than him making a statement about our selfish culture. But still I couldn't get away from the reality of what he said.  We want our excess regardless of whether we could make things better for someone else.

This is what I feel we say without actually saying it: "I see you need clean water and that you might die from some water-born bacteria.  I could help a little bit and probably with some friends we could help a lot.  But, I'm sorry.  I've got plans to go to a movie tonight and then after that I'm going to buy some new shoes.  Maybe next time when I get some extra extra money I can help."  

Please don't misunderstand.  I'm not writing this to make anyone feel guilty.  I'm simply sharing what's on my heart.  I don't know what to do with this anymore than, maybe, you do.  All I know is that if it's on my heart - chances are God is working in me. Where that leads remains to be seen.