I just returned home after ministering in Cuba. The return is always a difficult one for me. The contrast between Canada and Cuba is huge. With each return home I am pushed to think about what is truly important in life. What are the essentials, what really matters?
My friends in Cuba have little in the way of material things. Each day can be a struggle. Here in Canada most of us have more than we need. We take for granted things my Cuban friends only dream of having. We eat things which my friends there will never be able to try. Yet there is an even bigger difference between my Cuban friends and many of my Canadian friends; it is a spiritual one. My Christian brothers and sisters in Cuba are walking closely with their Lord Jesus. They don’t have fancy foods, they don’t have myriad electronic devices (most have none) or 100 television channels to watch, but they are content. They walk closely with Jesus and let Him set their path. They have the joy which comes only as we walk closely with Jesus. They truly care about one another, help and serve one another. Their relationship with Jesus, their Christian faith, is not cultural, it is not something added into a too-busy life, it is the centre of their universe. And because Christ is the centre, everything else works, they have joy. That part of their life I want to copy.
My favourite Bible passage is found in the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5 and 6.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding; in
all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
My Cuban friends teach me the truth of this verse, a truth I want to live out each day.
