Encouraged by Scripture

Life in Kolkata is full of ups and downs. Sometimes I feel like there is no better place for me to be. At other times I feel completely useless and wish I was back enjoying the comforts of the United States. It seems like most days are filled with both of those feelings. Several passages I have stumbled upon recently have offered me quite a bit of comfort.

Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" (verse 13 of 2 Kings 5:1-15)

Naaman is told to do something simple, but refuses to do it. He sees a big problem (his leprosy) and expects to do something great to change it. When no great option is available, he chooses to do nothing instead. This is a trap I fall into a lot too. I see the problems of this city, or even just those of a single person. They seem so overwhelming and I want to change them. The problem is that I want to do something great, but can't. I am left feeling useless because I am unable to be great. Yet God generally isn't calling me to do great things, for greatness is for Him alone. Instead God is calling me into simple acts of love. Through those acts He can work great things, but first He needs me to give up my own desire for greatness.

"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." (Luke 18:29-30)

So often while I am here in Kolkata I find myself longing for things back home. Sometimes it is a person, sometimes a thing, sometimes just a breath of clean air. It is a great comfort to me when I realize that through my sacrifice, even of just four months, God promises far greater things for me. It is can be easy to lose sight of God's daily blessings (like my amazing team) when I get so strung up on what I don't have.