Be a part of the change!

"There are opportunities to change and we are part of that change."

Dr Lori Cramer - OSU Professor and Sociologist

This quote was taken from a video interview presented to my Social Problems class last term. The week was on environmental problems and Dr. Lori Cramer is an environmental and natural resource sociologist who also teaches at Oregon State University. Here is the interview if you are interested in watching it.

Despite this quote being taken from an interview addressing environmental problems, it can be applied to many different areas of life and society. Ghandi actually had a similar quote that has almost become cliche in our society:

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

Both of these things are basically saying the same thing, take responsibility for change. It is up to each one of us to do something to make a difference in the world. It is up to each one of us to take a step towards improvement in our society. 

There are a lot of things that are going wrong in today's society from gun violence to poverty to racism and inequality. If you're on social media you have surely heard people complaining about each one of these things. In the midst of that complaining you have people complaining about one group's way of responding, then that group is complaining about the other side. There is a lot of complaining but how much action is there?

In Mark 6 we find the story of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus is teaching the multitudes out in the wilderness and his disciples come to him to let him know that it's getting late and the crowd is getting hungry. They tell Jesus that he needed to send them away to get some food. Jesus's response I believe was not only a challenge to them but also to us:

"You give them something to eat."

Mark 6:37

The disciples were bringing attention to a problem but were dictating the answer of the problem on someone else. Jesus is basically saying, "since you see the problem, do something to fix it." Of course, their eyes were limited and were not able to see how to bring a solution to the problem but the principle is an important one. 

What problems are sticking out to you in society? 

What are you passionate about? 

It is probably the Holy Spirit pointing those things out to you and saying, "You give them something to eat!", "You do something about it!"

Anxiety or Prayer?

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

God has been dealing with me on my response to difficult situations. I have a tendency to stress myself out trying to figure out a solution to a situation then, after everything fails, I finally remember to pray and bring it to God. By this time I've already been dealing with anxiety over that situation for several days, weeks, even months. 

Why does it take so long for us to remember to pray?

We have a tendency to approach situations with an attitude of, once I've exhausted all my resources and ideas I'm left with my last resort of praying. But praying should be our first resort, our first response. 

When we pray we have no need for anxiety because we have given the problem to God.

When we pray we relinquish control and put it in His hands. 

I think this is sometimes why it is so hard for us to pray. We want control. We feel that we are supposed to have control. As Americans we are constantly bombarded with this value of independence. We are told that true freedom is being independent and taking control of our own lives. But this is not a Biblical idea.

Christ shows a way of relinquishing control in order to receive freedom from Him. 

"Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, and you will find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

By coming to Him with our labors and are burdens we relinquish control of these and take on His burden which is easy and light. We yoke ourselves with Him and allow Him to help us through the process. As long as we hold onto the value of independence ingrained in us by our culture, this is difficult to do, however, once we do it we find peace and rest like never before. 

Don't wait for the last resort to pray. Next time you are facing a problem bring it to God immediately and let His Spirit direct you on what to do. Even if His direction is to "wait and see" rest in the knowledge that God's got this!