Do You Hear the Cries of the Poor?

Have you heard the cries of the poor in your city? Around the world? I don't know about you, but I have to train my ears to hear the cry of the poor. It's not a matter of whether they are crying out but a matter of whether or not I'm hearing their cries. Is the world full of people who have a great deal less than we do? Who are "we" anyway. I'm including those of us who live in "my" world. Whose first thoughts each morning are not "IF I'll get to eat today" but at some point in the day, I ponder "WHAT will I decide to have for breakfast/lunch/dinner...and what kind of snacks would be good to have between these meals?" Although meals/snacks don't always meet my expectations or appetite, eating is not really something I have to stress about today. "We" also includes those of us who have multiple options of things to entertian us each day...tv/movies/surfing the internet/Facebook/Twitter/whether we'll work out today or whether today is a rest day, etc. If this doesn't help you train your ears to hear the cry of the poor yet, check out these documented facts...nearly 3 billion of the world's 6.8 billion live on less than $2.00 a day. The average household income of Christians in America is around $42,000 a year. That is $115.07 a day! Get this, 26,000 CHILDREN will die today of preventable disease or starvation. Does that help you hear a little better?

Has there been a time this past year when you've actually heard the cry of the poor more distinctly than perhaps you do right now? Personally/ashamedly, I'd have to say yes. I've had opportunities to travel to cities in the US and to China this year on "mission trips." I've also done "mission projects" in the inner city of Jackson, MS this year and even in my community in which I live. I've not only heard the cies of the poor but I've seen the tragic effects of poverty firsthand. My burden is "Why do I hear their cries more clearly when I'm in their midst but not when I'm not on a mission trip or project?" In my life, I'm realizing that the terms "mission trips/projects" that we've traditionally used in the church have helped train our ears to the cries of the poor to hear them when it's either convenient or expected of us to do so. Whether I realize it or not, I've trained my ears to listen to the cries of the poor when I'm on a trip or involved in a project and have spent the rest of my life, the majority of my life, leading what I've told myself  is a sacrificial Christian life.  Can I really say that my life is being sacrificed for the cause of Christ in the world with the knowledge that almost half the world lives on less that 2% of what my family does each day?

A verse in my daily Bible reading really convicted me and helped shed light on why I don't always sense God speaking to me and moving in my life and church like I call myself praying for Him to do. Proverbs 21:13, "Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered." Wow, this verse gets more convicting each time I read it. I would dare say that every Christian in our country would say that they long to hear the voice of God more clearly/regularly in their own lives and that their worship services/small groups, etc. would sense the voice and presence of God every time they gather. Could one of the reasons that we don't consistently hear from God is that we've either intentionally refused to hear the cry of the poor or that we have allowed the conveniences/distractions of our comfortable lives to muffle the cries of the poor next door and around the world? I am committed to intentionally listening for the cries of the poor, to preventing the other noises in my life to keep me from hearing their cries and to doing something about their cries as I am able. I'm understanding more and more that my self-absorbed life and a church culture that has neglected its responsibility to hearing and responding to the cries of the poor has hurt the heart of God. Over and over, God's word is clear about His commitment to the poor, the disenfranchised, the hurting. Can we sincerely claim to want our hearts to be knit to His and reject the cry of the poor? I ask again, "Do you hear the cry of the poor?" If not, what's preventing it?