rebelling against low expectations

My Heart Breaks for the World

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Recently, I began following international news.

While this doesn’t sound super-exciting it has drastically changed my perspective on my role in the world.

During this process I have read things like how the ISIL treats Shia Muslims, and the ethnic conflict between Nuers and Dinkas in South Sudan.

Because of this, my comfort bubble exploded into a million pieces, and my heart broke for the world.
 
I began to question how God could possibly still reign in these awful, horrible, indescribable things. I was deeply convicted of my complacence in my small hard things and my oblivion of big hard things.

Through this hard time, God showed me saw the beauty and His glory throughout all these horrors. This article is the record of my journey.
 
We live in a world of turmoil.
 
We live in a world of war.
 
We live in a world of brokenness.
 
We live in a world where God is exalted and one where God is forbidden. A global world where our cultures are being assimilated and yet one where we can be anywhere on the globe in a single click.

We have information on all the horrors in the world. And yet….
 
I have lived a world of ignorance.
 
I have lived in a world of apathy.
 
I lived in a world where I witnessed horrors, the human trafficking, the beheading of journalists, the corrupt politics. I lived in a world privy of things that made me sick to my stomach, and yet  these things keep happening. 
 
I have lived in a world of passivity. 
 
I’ve lived in a world where I believed God cannot change a thing and so do not pray, a world that questioned the horrors I saw and asked God why there is so much evil.

I lived in a world where I, a daughter of God, saw these things and passively cheered when others acted and did something about it.

But yet, through my folly God showed me that….
 
We live in a world of beauty.
 
We live in a world where acts of kindness and goodness are possible through all the calamity and horror, a world where in the hardest there is always a beacon of hope and. A world where God is undaunted and supreme.

We live in a world where God uses broken humans as his tools, and I want to be one.

I have been passive, I have learnt about the horrors and ignored them, but I have been convicted and now my burden is the world.

I want to be God’s tool.


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About the author

Laura Guzmán

is a sixteen-year-old high-school student who is quite enamored with God, knowledge, and people. While her life is quite ordinary, she hopes to be extraordinary every day of however long it may last. She hopes to rule ... er ... change the world and die knowing that even when her name and everything she ever did may fall to oblivion, her faith never will. She also hates writing about herself in third person.

12 comments

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  • This is great! I keep myself informed about the state of the world as well. I had the same feelings of sadness over the evil and darkness over the world. But like you said, “We live in a world where acts of kindness and goodness are possible through all the calamity and horror…” There’s always a sliver of hope in this world because God is still here. Thank you for this and great job on this article!

  • I love this. I too have been passive with these events. I am mostly concerned with bombings in Syria, but I haven’t done anything about it. Does anyone ha ab e any ideas of what I could do to help? Your changing point of view, Laura, reminds me of how C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien mst have viewed the world. They lived during times of war and decided to write books about hope during dngerous and aweful times. There was always a glimmer of hope, though. Just like how there is hope for our world through Jesus. Thank you for writing this. I hope that it resonates in many people’s hearts.

  • What a great way to look at the world. It’s so easy for us to get caught up in all the bad things that happen that we lose sight of the good we can bring to this dying world. Thanks for sharing!!

  • Can’t say how much I needed this.
    I’ve been struggling a lot wondering why God doesn’t just magically fix everything. After all, He is God!
    But I learned I just have to trust Him and do what He says because He knows more than I do and He says it’ll all work out in the end. . <3

  • My school recently started a current events class, we have to watch the news, and I never did until I had to, my reaction we very similar

By Laura Guzmán
rebelling against low expectations

The Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations—a worldwide campaign to reject apathy, embrace responsibility, and do hard things. Learn More →