At the Edge of Our Gifts

4%.  FOUR PERCENT.  THIS NUMBER IS ETCHED INTO MY HEART, MI CORAZÓN.

“Yes ma’am, the doctor has referred you to dermatology to see if it is cancerous.  We put your name on the wait list, and will call you with an appointment once we find a volunteer dermatologist to see you” 

I interpreted using the gentlest words I could find. 

“How long do you think it will take?” 

I sighed, knowing what I had to say next. 

“Patients here often wait two years to see un dermatólogo...”

We are all stewards.  God has entrusted us with talents, resources, and influence. We use these gifts to work hard for the glory of God and the good of others,  “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). I am a steward of the 4%.

I am a volunteer medical interpreter at a Christian charity health center for the poor.  Physicians donate their free time to see our patients, and a network of churches finance everything else.  Our clinic is the result of an interdenominational effort between over 20 churches, 27 foundations, and 800 volunteers, but even with all of this we are only able to help 4% of the need in our city.

What do you do when you reach the edge of your gifts?  When your team has dreamed and worked hard, and yet so much of the work remains?  This tension exists in every field.  There always seems to be more students to teach, more stomachs to feed, and more souls who have not yet heard the gospel.

The more I interpret for the poor the more I struggle with this tension, but in my struggle I have found hope. There will be a day when 100% of the need is met,  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’” (Revelation 21:3-4).

This hope is a fuel that can empower us to love the suffering even at the edge of our gifts.  We love because he first loved us, and our gifts point the way towards the gift that is the hope of the world.  Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and he is the only hope for our neighbors.  We cannot separate our work from the reality that God is in control and that he loves the suffering more than we do.  When you reach the edge of your gifts and there is still great need in the community, mourn the loss.  As you mourn, you can trust by faith that God is in control, that he loves everyone involved in the broken situation, and that there will be a day when he will wipe every tear from our eyes.

At the edge of our gifts we love the suffering, we mourn with them, and we point them towards a greater hope in Jesus Christ.  He will make all things new, he will wipe every tear from our eyes, and we rejoice in our sufferings, as we trust in his sovereign love with joyful expectation for the future.

HEAVENLY FATHER, AT THE EDGE OF OUR GIFTS I PRAY THAT WE WOULD POINT THE SUFFERING TO THE ROCK SOLID ETERNAL HOPE THAT WE HAVE IN YOU, AND AS THE ENCOURAGERS OF THOSE SUFFERING WE WOULD TAKE COURAGE IN THAT SAME HOPE, FULLY TRUSTING THEM TO YOUR LOVING AND PERFECT CARE, THAT WE MAY ALSO REJOICE AND TRULY FIND REST FROM OUR LABORS IN YOU.