Flexibility

We have a youth team here this week that is doing evangelism and giving Bibles out in houses. In this area, there is a grid of houses with paved roads and an area that is not yet paved. The houses in the unpaved area are mostly made of plywood and plastic sheeting. One of the women we came into contact with earlier this week lives in a house (if you can call it that) that is about 4 feet by 7 feet with a bed and a stove. The walls are not solid plywood, and the roof is leaking. She has 5 kids (under 7) with another on the way. They live by a pigpen with at least 3 HUGE sows and their piglets. The kids were crying the other day because they hadn't eaten all day.
So our purpose was to go in, do evangelism, and give out Bibles, right? Today we started building a house. For the lady that lives in the borrowed house. I started thinking about the fact that God's two greatest commandments are to love Him and love our neighbor. That is not just a warm fuzzy; it is a practical commandment. James puts it this way: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:14-17) I love James's point here. We cannot love others without getting our hands dirty sometimes. It gives me such joy to be a part of the work we do, for it shows others how big and yet how personal God is, that He would use ordinary people to provide for the needs of those He could provide for in no time at all. While blessing the person (the family) who receives this house, I am blessed because I am being obedient to God. We do not do this because the woman asked for it, but because God touched the heart of my boss to do a little practical gospel, and because that is what God has commanded us to do. Ephesians says that He has saved us for good works (not because of them, but to do them).