What quickly followed was a stark opposite as if a light were shining through the tumbled piles of debris. People jumped into action: to help, to heal, to love. What a mind-blowing impact local businesses, churches, and organizations made as they rallied together to support Haiti.
Hollywood A-listers jumped to the rescue of Haiti. They quickly flew there to help when the news cameras were running and magazine cameras clicking, but then what happened? I don’t know, but it quit making the front page of the newspapers and the A-listers seemed to disappear as quickly as they came. Did Haiti get all the help they needed? Are the people back on their feet already? Of course not.
I recently had a cup of coffee with a man you will not see on CNN or on the front page of USA Today, but who made a huge difference in many of the lives of those devastated in Haiti. His name is Dr. David Marks. You may recognize his name if you are involved in the local medical community or read the medical side of this magazine. Last year Dr. Marks took Eliot Garza, publisher of NSIDE, to Africa on a medical mission trip.
Dr. Marks and I sat for about an hour and a half, and he told me his stories and experiences he had while in Haiti. He told me about the conditions, the devastation, and the children at the orphanage he was able to help. His eyes lit up and his passion bled out as he retold his experiences.
At the end of our conversation, he told me that a lot of people say that one person can’t make a difference. He said, “If I helped one person, then I made a difference.” Dr. Marks went to Haiti long after the A-listers were gone, the cameras quit rolling, and the news media wrote their stories. Dr. Marks went to make a difference in an orphanage and he didn’t quit until every last child had been helped.
In 2 Timothy 4:7 (NLT 2nd edition) the Apostle Paul writes: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. He is writing to a young preacher named Timothy and he is encouraging him to stay strong, faithful, and to complete the task at hand. Don’t ever give up. It may not be pretty. It may not be fun. You may not even get recognized for your efforts, but don’t ever give up.
The question is this: Do you remain faithful and finish the task, or do you do the job until a better more enjoyable option comes along? Are you known as a person who will persevere until the end no matter what it takes, or will you float along until it gets difficult and then find something a bit more fun?
The Apostle Paul would have had more excuses than any of us to throw in the towel. He was beaten to within an inch of losing his life, wrongly imprisoned, and ridiculed for his occupation. If anyone had an excuse to wave the white flag, he did. But he didn’t; he stayed the course, finished the race and remained faithful until the end.
Let me challenge you to look at your life and take an inventory of your responsibilities. Look at your marriage, family, career, relationships, friends, extracurricular activities, and the like. Are you staying faithful until the end? Are you fighting for your marriage; are you working through difficult situations at work; are you doing everything possible to salvage the friendship?
Remember the local businesses, churches, and organizations that are still supporting Haiti. Remember Dr. Marks and the children at the orphanage that he helped; and, most importantly, remember what the Apostle Paul said: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
