We traveled this week to Burundi to dedicate a home we’ve been building for the elderly and disabled: Anna’s House. Getting this outreach off the ground has been nothing but a walk of faith.
For context, we aren’t a big organization with unlimited resources. Whatever gets done, like Anna’s House, gets done by faith. And that says a lot, because the difficulties of working in a country like Burundi are intense.
Here, even living takes all day.
I was reminded of this when we arrived. Upon landing, we of course had to stand in lines out the “ying yang” (as hubs would say) that snaked their way around the immigration hall. It took about an hour to get our passports stamped and collect our luggage. When we finally stepped outside, I was hopeful, because it only took an hour, that we would get out of the parking lot quickly.
“Quickly” is not a word used in the context of Burundi. I should have known better.
Our transportation was delayed because the driver was trying to get a parking ticket on entry. When he arrived some time later, he told us, “The system is down,” but that he had been instructed to go ahead and pay anyway.
Of course, when he went to pay, he was told to return to the front gate to collect a parking ticket.
Frustrated, we had no option but to do as we were told. At the gate, just as expected, we were told no tickets were being issued.
Eventually, we were allowed to pay and leave the airport—after sitting in a long line of cars filled with people facing the same issue.
Getting to the hotel was another story. We had to stop at the bank first, and that alone took more time than expected.
It’s enough to say that in Burundi, living takes all day.
Living anywhere takes all day
You may wonder why we bother with all these things, when life itself is already complicated enough.
The day before we traveled, we took our daughter to Johannesburg for her SAT exam. It’s a normal part of life for a high school senior, but it took the whole day.
Life, with all its ups and downs, is time-consuming.
School errands, grocery shopping, work obligations, and all the little in-between moments carry us through to the evening.
It makes one wonder why we reach for more, when the normal struggles of life already take the whole day.
I’m reminded of a song my daughter Mandy used to listen to when she was a teenager, There’s Gotta Be More To Life by Stacie Orrico. Ond line has stayed with me over the years,“There’s gotta be more to life than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me.” The things we chase from morning til night every day are supposed (in our minds) to lead us to the next best thing:
- A good SAT score will lead to acceptance to a good school where a good life will unfold.
- Positive employee reviews are sure to result in a raise.
- Having many friends will definitely lead to a secure social standing.
If you’ve lived more than fifteen minutes on the earth you already know that while none of these things is bad in and of itself, none of them assures of happiness or security. If that’s the case, why do we spend all day chasing after them?
His end of the deal
We like to criticize the Israelites for their hard hearts. After all, it took them 40 years to enter the Promised Land. But we are more like the Israelites than we care to admit. We spend all day, every day pursuing things that have little promise of lasting happiness.
And when we feel God has failed to fill His “end of the deal,” we begin to question Him, quietly reasoning His ways must be wrong.
”How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?”
Joshua 18:3 (NASB)
God’s people didn’t enter the land because they wanted to enter the land on their terms, not God’s. This resulted in years of wandering. When they finally figured out their time was better spent following His ways, they entered and took possession.
Unless you live in Burundi, you likely won’t be waiting for a parking ticket or standing in line at the bank all day. But you have other things taking your time that take all day. I encourage you to look up today and make today count. You may have things pulling at you, but (to quote Stacie Orrico again) there’s gotta be more to life than what we’re chasing after.
You’re going to spend your day on something. It will take all day anyway.
So why not give it to what matters?
Related Reading:
- When God Bends Down to Listen: Lessons from the Outcast in John 9
- Do You Know What You Are Asking For?
- Take Words With You, Prepare Something to Say
- No One Prepares You for When
