On a daily basis I see and hear about and talk to people who are struggling. Not because I work with the needy or the homeless, but because they are my family and my friends. I know people struggling with divorce, making the light bill, the house payment, getting to and from work, to find work, providing for their children. People who are lonely or have lost their dearest and closest friends. Every morning and afternoon I pass by a community of homeless people. All of this makes me realize how blessed I am. But then I start to feel guilty.
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;" - Romans 3:10 (NIV)
Why is it them and not me? Who Am I? I am no better than any one of these people, neither my friends, my family nor these complete strangers who sleep on the sidewalks. I have done nothing better than any other person, often I know I have done worse in my lifetime. Yet, so many blessings have been poured upon me.
Have there been times when I've struggled? Sure, in some sense. But I've never known hunger or failed health or poverty. Most of my struggles have been self induced. But these people I know and see struggling are doing everything they can to survive or to find peace.
You know, I get that life's just not fair and I thank God for that. If life were fair, we'd all be in big trouble. The Bible says our good deeds are like dirty rags in God's sight and there is no one who does right, not one.
"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away". - Isaiah 64:6
If you're reading this, I'm asking you to pray. Pray for your friends, your neighbors and even the complete strangers who are struggling to make ends meet in today's world; those who have made the wrong choices and can't find their way out of the hole they've dug for themselves; those who are lonely and grieving. There's a world of sadness out there, changing it starts with prayer.
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