Glorifying Steps

It seems like a simple question with an even simpler answer.

“Why help orphans?
Because Jesus said so.”

But the real answer to this question is actually quite difficult to put into words.

Actually, answering this question is the real reason Rachel and I are writing this blog in the first place.

People ask us all the time,
“Why are you going to Lesotho?”
“Why are you leaving the US?”
“Why are you going to work with orphans?”

Rachel and I have struggled through numerous conversations trying to explain our reasons, trying to explain the calling God has placed on our lives. And, like most anything in this world, it all starts with a story.

But not just any story, the story.

This story starts with God creating the world. God spoke the universe into existence with a single word. With a single breath He breathed life into His creation.

And He saw it was good.

When speaking of man, He declared it was very good.

God created man in His image, and gave him authority over His creation. He gave him goals and responsibilities. And He created him a helper to share in this work.

Man’s purpose on Earth, as directed by God, was to display a true picture of love for all His creation to see. To show the world a true sense of God’s image.

We were created to reflect God upon the Earth.

But there was a wrinkle in the story.

Man sinned. We placed our own goals above God’s. And as punishment we were sent away. We were banished from God’s perfect kingdom.

We were sent away, but we were not stripped of our purpose. We are still called to show God’s true love to the world. The scriptures say we felt naked and ashamed, but we are still made in God’s image.

That true and powerful statement cannot and will not ever change. No matter how far away we are from God, no matter how much we reject and oppose His will, we are made in the image of Him.

And in this context the story can begin.

God was not content with the sinful distortion of His creation. He was not satisfied with a broken and hurting world. Something was to be done.

Throughout all of the Old Testament you see God working to rescue and restore His people.

God makes an extreme promise to Abraham (Abram at the time) that from his family line He would make the world right again.

God used Joseph to make sense of some tricky dreams, successfully predicting and preventing a terrible famine from wiping everyone out.

God calls Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt. He longs for them to experience true freedom. He wants the world to be made right again.

And God empowered David to throw a few stones at a giant and save the entire nation of Israel, which he would eventually lead as king.

These aren’t just cute stories we learn about in Sunday School.

They are the true accounts of God working in the lives of His people,
who were empowered to do incredible things because they were made in His image,
to propel His redemptive story towards it’s main character.

But the main character of this story didn’t follow the script.

All of the Old Testament pointed to a King who would come and save the world. A Savior that would show up in the nick of time and put the world back to the way it should be. A Ruler who would make everything okay again.

Jesus fulfilled these promises, and so much more.

Jesus did come as a King, a Savior, and a Ruler. But he also came as a Servant, a Sacrifice, and a Friend.

Jesus came to this broken Earth, and like a torch in a dark room, he filled the world with hope more than any Old Testament prophet could have ever imagined.

You see Jesus didn’t just come to put the world back together,
He came to put us back together.

He didn’t just come to restore God’s creation,
He came to create in us a new creation.

A new purpose. A new life.

We are made in God’s image to reflect God’s love upon all of creation,
and we are restored in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to become a part of the story at last.

But not just as an observer, as a main character.

Rachel and I have spent the majority of our lives seeking to do God’s will. We firmly believe that we are called to be a reflection of God’s image upon this hurt and broken world. We are called to be small pieces of God’s perfect kingdom here on Earth.

To live in a way that reflects God.

To love people in a way that brings Glory to Him.

To take Glorifying Steps towards a world made right again.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel