The older I get and the more I see in this world the more I realize how much alike we all are. While of course on the outside we may look different- different colors, different styles, different religious backgrounds and beliefs, different cultures, different likes and dislikes, different ages, different jobs, differents hobbies- down deep we all share is our need to be loved, to be accepted, to matter and most of all- our need for Jesus. While some will never acknowledge that need- inside of all of us there is this place- this void- that can ONLY be filled once we claim Him as our Savior.
While I often cannot understand why the Lord allows so much pain and suffering in this world one thing I know it is in those times of pain that many of us reach out to Him. None of us, regardless of who we are or where we live are going to get through this life without some sort of heart ache.
And Macaria is no different. Despite living in a tin hut with dirt floors, despite walking through this life on her hands- she matters to Jesus and she matters to me.
Macaria was born without legs and she has somehow survived in a country that is far from easy without them. Her only means of survival is to beg on the streets each day, looking up into the faces of those who pass her bye- hoping to see Jesus in one of them. Hoping for a bit of compassion, hoping for someone to reach out to her, someone-to be His hands and feet.
We went to visit Macaria one day at her home to bring her a bag of rice, beans and corn. Her situation was one of the worst I had yet to see. As she drug her week body to the door to greet us in her eyes I saw a glimmer of hope. We prayed with Macaria and I asked her what her biggest need was. She showed us her home and the 'bed' where she lay down her head each night. It was a simple wooden crate laying on top of 4 concrete blocks and a thin plastic 'matress' almost like that of a packing envelope.
As I looked around Macaria's home her needs were overwhelming...
endless...
Yet in the corner of her room I saw it lying there. Words were circled, sentences were underlined- and in that instant I understood how it was this precious lady had surivived this way for so long.
She knew Him.
She knew Him in a way that many of us miss out on becasue our lives are so FULL of the good things this world has to offer. She knew Him in a way that many of us refuse to acknowledge- as her ONLY hope. The one she turns to first, the one she clings to, the one she relys on daily to be her all and all. His love made up for all of the things she lacked.
We were able to bring Macaria a new bed so she had a comfortable place to lay her worn out body each night. But what she gave us was worth so much more~something I will never, ever forget...
Through her circumstances I saw someone who was constantly on their knees before the Lord. Someone who trusted Him for their daily bread. Someone who didn't let their circumstances in life stop them from loving the one who allowed them.
And I hope and pray that one day I can be just like Macaria.
