I have a friend who is marrying a Kenyan man. Her parents are missionaries in Kenya full-time and she has met a native, fell in love, and is due to be married in a few days. She has left everything here in the States to move to a very small village in Africa—and when I say village I mean dirt roads, huts, no warm showers. Her family and a few friends are heading over there to celebrate with her.
As I pulled my shot of espresso this morning I contemplated the whole concept (as my friend loves coffee and had to sell her espresso machine, the same one I have, before she moved to Kenya). I wondered how I would feel getting out of the Jeep and planting my feet on the clay dirt for the first time in that village. Probably something a long the lines of, “I would never be able to live here forever”. This led me to the thought of our American luxuries that we call necessities. Are we holding our American soil as an idol?
All that we have, down to the hot shower, is a gift from God.
If He called us beyond our borders, how quickly would we go?
Would we wrestle and justify and compromise? Honestly, I know I would wrestle and try to justify. But my prayer is to come to the point where I can proclaim my love for the Lord over my comfort in the privileges.
This also led me to ask myself, “If it would be so difficult to leave my comfort culture, am I holding these things as idols in my heart? Am I a lover of the world?” It may be worth a heart check for all of us.
If you were uprooted and transported from your cozy American home to a small village in Africa, would you fall into a depression? Would your world fall apart? Would you have trouble praising our Creator in that circumstance? Or would you be rooted and grounded in the love of our Savior allowing yourself to find comfort in Him rather than the comforts of this world?