Insanity

The dirty skies of Bangkok (normally it is not THIS bad)

Yesterday I had to go see a  doctor to see if I am healthy enough to renew my work permit here in Thailand.  Among the conditions that are not acceptable for a work permit:

• TB in the infectious state
• Alcohol additction
• Drug addiction
• Stage 3 Syphilis
• Severe manifestations of elephantiasis
• Insanity

I’m glad he didn’t question me too hard on the last item.  I could see it now, “So you quit a nice job in order to take on a new one with much less pay and harder work.  You then moved out of a nice house in the suburbs and into a city where the air is toxic to breathe and it is so warm and humid all the time that you work up a sweat going upstairs in an elevator.  You must be insane.”

In my darker moments I sometimes wonder the same thing.  I remember when we started this adventure that I laid it all on the line—willing to even give up my life so that others may hear the good news of the gospel.  But somehow, subjecting my body to extreme physical conditions doesn’t seem to have the same glory attached to it as being a martyr for the gospel. 

I’ve been reading a book by a Thai author who paints a very dark picture of Bangkok and what people endure in this city because, as bad as it is, it offers more than they had in NE Thailand.  As I read it I find myself wondering if I want to agree with him or not, because if it is really that bad, then why did I purposely come here?

But it is all a matter of perspective.  We quit our jobs and moved out of our nice house in order to follow our Lord to a place where we can bring hope to a people who live in a culture devoid of such hope, which makes their spiritual environment far worse than  their physical one.  The joy we see we the eyes of people who come out of darkness and into light far outweighs any environmental conditions we may have to endure.  And if we do endure these conditions to better reach those who also must endure them, then it becomes not only an acceptable cost of doing business but a pathway to joy.

Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. 1 Corinthians 3:18-19a (NLT)