This year Indigitous is using a different theme for each month. The theme for March is Everyone Can Do Something. No matter what your situation, there is some step of faith that you can take to serve God, something that you can do to make the world a better place.
As we look in horror at the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the violence, the destruction, the people fleeing their homes as refugees, it can be easy to feel helpless. What can I do in the face of such brokenness? It’s overwhelming. It’s depressing.
It can be easy to focus on that. But God is still in control, even as “the nations rage, the kingdoms totter” (Psalm 46:6). As the brokenness of the world is on full display, we still have hope in God. Psalm 46:9-11 says:
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
Psalm 46:9-11
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
He burns the chariots with fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!’
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
As followers of Jesus, even when things look the bleakest, we are called to serve the Lord, to love God “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” as well as to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-29). At times like this when we feel helpless, we should look to that. What can we do to love God? What can we do to love our neighbors?
Prayer
The most obvious answer is prayer. Take some time each day to pray for the Ukranians, pray for an end to the war, for help and support for those who need it. You can use an app like PrayerMate to remind yourself to pray, to organize your thoughts, and list your prayer points.
Look to prayer also for your own spiritual and mental well being. But most importantly, look at prayer as a way to commune with God, to understand Him better, and to spend time in His presence.
Some may see prayer as “doing nothing,” but it is far from it. We are weak, finite, confused, and overwhelmed, but God is all-knowing and all-powerful.
“Let us never forget that the greatest thing we can do for God or for man is to pray. For we can accomplish far more by our prayers than by our work,” says the unknown author of the book The Kneeling Christian.
Give what you can
There are also ways to help financially. Our friends at Unto are providing Survival Kits for people in need of humanitarian aid, including those in or fleeing Ukraine. Each kit is customized to the needs of the person receiving it and provides things like meals, medical supplies, water filters, and other lifesaving items. For as little as $35, you can provide a kit for someone in need.
A great article from TIME provides a number of great international aid organizations that are working in Ukraine and neighboring countries to help those affected by the war. You can give to UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency, or a number of other organizations that are doing their part.
Share love
We could all use some good news right now. While this doesn’t relate directly to the conflict in Ukraine, at times when the world seems the darkest, that’s when the world needs to see the love of God shine through.
It could mean helping a neighbor with yardwork. It could mean sharing your walk with God online. Maybe it’s breaking up the horrors on everyone’s social media feeds with stories about followers of Jesus making a positive impact.
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love; it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of,” goes the classic song by Hal David and Burt Bacharach.
It may seem like just a little thing, but if all followers of Jesus love their neighbor as they love themselves, it can make a big difference. It may not seem like much, but it’s something. Everyone can do something.
