Jesus Stands Among the Trash

A few years ago I took a trip to Ecuador where I helped to minister to people who lived in the city dump. My heart was awakened on this trip because I encountered one place that I believe Jesus, if He lived on the earth, would walk today. There is no way that a human would choose, or want, to hang out at this place without motives of wanting to help these people. Not only did it affect our team emotionally, but it was the most difficult place that I had ever been in physically. I have never smelt such a horrific stinch before. And these people lived in the middle of it day after day after day. As I roamed through the dump, I saw many children. Some were playing with toys they could find among the trash. Others were resting in their cardboard box homes. They smiled with beauty as one of my team members handed over his hat and hackey sack to give them. I noticed a mother cleaning off her infants diaper only to put it back on her child again. I was overwhelmed at my own naivity as far as the human race and the poverty I was encountering.

I love Jesus. Do you know one reason I love Him? Because just like the dump, there is no one else who would choose or have the desire to stand and walk among my trash. Not only does He WANT to walk among it, He wants to hold it in His hand, clean it up, and make it into something beautiful. Humanity's normal reaction to their personal trash is to hide it. Shame demands that we put a lid on it so the stinch doesn't seep out causing others to see it and reject us. But it's still there. And honestly, others really don't want to see it anyways. If they do, rejection is probably on the horizon. We are only human and most of us really don't want to have anything to do with others who have real issues. The problem is, we all have trash that wreaks. Some of us are just better at hiding it. Do you know the kind of person that Jesus wants to hold near to Him? The person who wreaks with trash, the one who is severely messed up, and the one who needs a good cleaning. He doesn't want to look at our issues from a distance. He wants to WALK AMONG IT. He doesn't mind the smell or the filth. He wants you to crawl up close to Him with your filth and allow Him to love you. We are ashamed of it and are scared He will reject us if He sees. But if only we would open our hearts to the healer, we would find our souls at ease. We are used to rejection, but He is so different than others. He loves differently. Some might take years of allowing the healer to stand among their trash before they get cleaned up. He is not in a hurry. Not only is it His desire to clean you, but He just wants to rest with you through the process smiling the whole time. He just wants you to allow Him to stand in it no matter how long it takes. He isn't going to take a bull dozer and destroy your dump. He is going to pick up one trash at a time, hold it in His hand, speak His words of life over it and patiently wait until you begin to believe it about yourself. Finally, one day your mind will be renewed and you will begin to see yourself as He sees you...not as one who lives in a filthy dump, but one that is the very treasure and reward of God Himself. But even if you do not ever encounter such a feeling on earth...even if you can't ever seem to climb over your trash or get out of the dump...even if you can't ever see beyond the years of pain and heartache, Jesus still feels the same about you. He doesn't demand perfection, He simply wants to be a part of your trash and begin the long process of preparing you to be His eternal friend and partner.