How can we live in the tension between our own blessings and the burdens of our world? When we are confronted by the hurt of the world, it’s often easy to believe there’s nothing we can do to help.
Bethany Hoang of International Justice Missions felt that way when she first was exposed to the epidemic of human trafficking.
“This is so awful, this is beyond what I know how to even process. I feel like I want to do something and be move out into the world and be a part of change, but how could I possibly do that. What do I have to bring to the table?”
Bethany explains why this belief and thought process is a lie meant to paralyze us from action.
“Those of us who have the power to step out and do something are fed with an onslaught of lies and we are told to believe that we can’t do anything. There is this lie that there is nothing I can do in the face of millions of people who are enslaved, trafficked, and brutalized. There is a lie that says in the face of so much darkness it is better to just go protect ourselves and lead a small, quiet life and believe that there is nothing we can actually do.”
God calls all Christians to tend to the broken-hearted of the world in the ways that God has equipped them to.
“The Scriptures are full of our great God calling us out into His world, to be our flourishing, to be about abundant life, and to do it with joy even in the face of really horrific violence. We can actually step out with the joy of the Lord as our strength. There’s more that could be done then we could have ever imagined.”
“It never gets old, there’s never an end to what we learn about what it means to follow Jesus into this work and to watch Him do the work of rescue and for us to be a part of that healing and restoration.”
Bethany Hoang is an author and speaker with a driving passion to help others live the connection between justice and following Jesus. Bethany has served for more than a decade as Advisor and Founding Director for IJM’s Institute for Biblical Justice.
Key Scripture: Psalm 27
Confronting the hurt in our world
