My God Complex

Going on a medical mission really messes with one’s God complex.

It’s wonderful when you are able to watch a kid chew a tablet that will immediately begin curing them of their parasite. You get the warm fuzzies and you feel that you are making a difference.

But then there are cases that you see for which you can provide little if any hope…. mainly because the therapy it isn’t available in their country. And that’s the worst.

This man came in complaining of hip pain.

A few questions in, I asked what he did for a living.
“I work in the fields, so plowing, chopping wood, things like that.”

He then handed me some x-rays he had of his back.

The hardware had been put in about 15 years ago to straighten his back from scoliosis.

This is what his back looked like.

And that’s where you know you’re sunk.

We can give him some ibuprofen and tell him to slow down…
But, in this case, if he doesn’t work, he very literally doesn’t eat.

Lesley runs the organization in Nicaragua that brings in teams for clinics.
I overheard her in a conversation about one seemingly hopeless case…that regards a child.

“When you say ‘There’s just too many people to help!’ it’s easy to just go home and enjoy your privilege. But you just have to take it one at a time…”

It can be overwhelming sometimes thinking of all the Nicaraguans for whom we can do nothing physically at this point….or all of the children in foster care…or the masses hungry children around the world.

Yes, we are empowered by a great God.
Yes, we can do things to reach the masses.

But we are also very simply human.
And sometimes, there are limits to what we can do.

Help those in your path with as much gusto as you can muster.
Be the hands and feet of Jesus to all those you meet.
And pray that He sends harvesters into every field, because no one is capable of doing it all.