Newsflash: It's Not About You

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." ~James 1:22

Obedience and actually living out what the Bible says has been on my mind a lot lately. Hard to believe it was only a week ago that I chose to get baptized after being a Christian for ten years. Part of the reason it's so hard to believe is because I spent the past week volunteering with Samaritan's Purse in Washington, IL, after the tornado that swept through the area just two weeks ago. 

Reflecting on my volunteer experience, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "It's not about you," in the middle of the week. That day the team I was on started at a house outside what was known as "the hot zone," which was a subdivision in Washington that got completely flattened by the tornado in a matter of thirty to sixty seconds. At that first house, I spent a good hour watching the technical tree team work on carefully removing limbs from a tree before cutting the tree down. I spent much of that time wishing I was doing something so that I wasn't cold or seemingly wasting my time. Thankfully we had an opportunity to rake up the next door neighbor's yard, but I still was in a bit of a funk since I was thinking about how cold I was and my mind was wandering over trivial thoughts about things back home that were clogging up my brain. Our next stop, though, was in the hot zone.

My first glimpse of the hot zone

Driving over towards central Washington didn't hint at what I was about to witness. Here and there I saw a roof missing some shingles or siding off a house, but nothing catastrophic. Then all of a sudden, as I looked to my left out the window, I saw a car in a yard and no houses to be seen. Even though I didn't live there, or know anybody from the area, it was still like a punch in the gut. My brain just couldn't comprehend, and still hasn't fully comprehended, the level of destruction that I came across in the hot zone. To think that all of this happened in 30-60 seconds is unfathomable and unimaginable! As the three of us in the truck got out to assist another team help move debris out of a yard, I immediately remembered why I was there and that it wasn't about me. It didn't matter how cold I was, I had the ability to travel back to a warm church after my day. My team leader had a functioning truck; many homeowners no longer have a working car or may not even know where their car is. The church was a massive structure unharmed by the storm; this entire neighborhood was just flattened. Literally, these people had almost nothing left, other than what few possessions they could salvage from their basements or their neighbors yards. I couldn't believe how petty my thoughts were earlier in the day being so focused on myself. It was definitely an eye opener that I needed.
As the week progressed, I spent more time in prayer for this community as I worked. Since most of the homes were decimated, not many homeowners were around, but on Black Friday, a bunch of brothers of a homeowner showed up at the job site to assist us and to tell their brother's story. Hearing about how the house exploded around him and his son as they ran to the basement and about the son getting buried in debris, but ultimately being okay, was eye opening. To hear a firsthand account of the storm helped put it all in perspective and also demonstrated how God was present in this community during the storm. After listening to such a story, how could I not remember that I'm here because of Christ and I'm to serve like Christ? Galatians 5:13 states, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." This is just one of many verses about service that requires action in order to be a doer of the word, not just a hearer.

Before our cleanup efforts

Sifting through debris in that yard, I became more and more aware of how my supposed issues paled in comparison to this family and the rest of the Washington community. They were all trivial compared to those who lost all of their possessions in this brief tornado on a November day. Instead of focusing on my own personal thoughts as I worked, I thought of the family and tried to carefully cleanup the yard and search for possessions under all of the debris. I needed to pretend what it would be like to be in their shoes and to take the care in searching as if this were my home and my memories scattered across the yard. Members of my team did a great job carefully saving pictures, drawings, and books they came across. What struck a chord with me were the pages from a Bible that I uncovered on two separate occasions; some spanned from Isaiah to Ezekiel, while others spanned from Colossians to 1 Thessalonians 3. Another find that struck a chord with me demonstrated that even in the midst of all the destruction, God understands and wants to reveal His compassion. I found it ironic that I happened to come across a book entitled Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but I think the title of that book really captures how everybody in Washington must feel about what happened on November 17th, and to me, it was proof that God is well aware of what everybody endured and still is enduring. Once we finished cleaning the yard and presented the homeowner with a Billy Graham Bible, it became apparent why we took the time and care to cleanup this one yard in a sea of destruction. To see the relief on the homeowner's face and realize that we saved him and his family month's worth of work made it all worthwhile. That was why we served and loved on this family.

Clean yard after a day of work

Knowing that life is not all about me was definitely a reminder that I needed on this deployment, and I'm sure it's one that everybody can learn from. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense." If we can't look outside ourselves, we're doomed and destined to live in despair, unable to have a powerful witness to unbelievers. I realized how much God was trying to pound that into my mind this past week, especially when I took the time to read the Scripture verses on a business card a volunteer had given to me before she left on Thanksgiving. It wasn't until Saturday that I realized that written on it was Philippians 2:3-4 ~  "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." These words reminded me how I need to not just spend my time with Samaritan's Purse, but ultimately, how I must spend my whole life. I must constantly put other people's cares, concerns, and interests ahead of mine in order to avoid being enveloped by selfish pride. At the end of the day, my life is better spent serving others for the glory of Christ, rather than trying to "create a kingdom of self" as the pastor at Elevate Church said yesterday morning during his sermon. Life is more rewarding when we take the time to give of ourselves and not get wrapped up in our own little worlds. We must recognize that there is more to life than us and our problems. I've found that once you learn to live for the service of others, God will open doors in your life and answer the prayers you've been repeating for weeks out of selfishness.