“THEY MAY NOT REMEMBER THE MEDICATIONS…”

 OUR TEAM “RUNS” ON GOOD SLEEP, GOOD FOOD, PLENTY OF CLEAN WATER…OH YES, AND ON CAFFEINE. BUT OUR DEVOTIONS, MORNING AND EVENING, INSPIRE US FOR THE DAY AHEAD. EACH TEAM MEMBER TAKES A TURN OFFERING A DEVOTION BASED ON A COMMON THEME — THIS YEAR, “ONE OF JESUS’S SAYINGS.”

SO FAR, ALL OUR TEAM’S DEVOTIONS HAVE BEEN NOTABLE AND “ON THE MARK” FOR OUR JOB OF MINISTERING TO THE CHURCH COMMUNITY’S ILLNESSES, ACHES AND PAINS. WHAT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO KNOW IS HOW PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING EMOTIONALLY AND SPIRITUALLY. THERE ARE SOME SITUATIONS WE CANNOT ADDRESS WITH MODERN MEDICINE, BUT WITH PRAYER.

OUR TWO PRACTITIONERS, DR. PATTY AND R.N. DEB, ADDRESS MANY ISSUES WITH PRAYER — SUCH AS THE SLEEPLESS WOMAN WHOSE 18-YEAR-OLD SON HAS BEEN MISSING FOR TWO WEEKS, THE FAMILY WITH THE 12-YEAR-OLD NONVERBAL DAUGHTER WHO IS CONSTANTLY HUNGRY FOR ATTENTION. AND THE GRANDPA WHO HAS A MUSCLE-WASTING CONDITION AND NEEDS TO IMPROVE HIS NUTRITION AND FITNESS EFFORT. AFTER GIVING APPROPRIATE MEDS OR FOOD SUPPLEMENTS, WE OFFER PRAYER.

DEB,  PRAYING OVER A PATIENT

THE DEVOTION BELOW WAS OFFERED SUNDAY BY ONE OF OUR NURSES. PLEASE ENJOY!

Matthew 11:28 – Come to Me

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

If I’m being honest, I didn’t come to Honduras feeling rested.

I came tired. Not just from travel or long days, but emotionally and spiritually.

This past couple of years has stretched me in ways I never expected. I’ve experienced heartbreak, questioned things I thought were certain, struggled with trust, and felt burned out in my career. There have been moments where I’ve felt like I was carrying the weight of everything around me. My faith has been very rocky. And I’m sure some of you can relate. 

We all carry things that nobody else can see. Some of us carry stress from work, grief, anxiety, broken relationships, uncertainty about the future.

Some carry disappointments we haven’t shared with anyone.

Sometimes we get so busy surviving the next day, the next shift, or the next season of life that we don’t even realize how heavy our burdens have become.

Then Jesus says something so simple:

“Come to me.”

Not, “Come to me when you’ve figured everything out.”

Not, “Come to me after you’ve fixed yourself.”

Not, “Come to me when you’re strong enough.”

He simply says, “Come.”

I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear.

I originally thought I was coming here to help people in Honduras. But I also think God brought me here because He knew I needed something too.

We’ve met people and will meet more people who have so much less than most of us have back home. Some have walked for hours just to receive medical care. Many have lived with pain for years because they didn’t have access to a doctor or medication.

Yet I’ve also seen joy. I’ve seen gratitude. I’ve seen people smiling with a kind of peace that can’t be explained by their circumstances.

It has made me ask myself a difficult question:

If they can still find reasons to praise God in the middle of hardship, why do I so often let my own circumstances steal my peace?

But the truth is, burdens aren’t unique to Honduras. The people we meet here carry burdens.The people back home carry burdens.

And every single one of us here today carries burdens too.

The world is heavy.

Every time we turn on the news, we see another tragedy, another conflict, another reason to feel overwhelmed. It can feel like we’re expected to carry the weight of everything happening around us.

But Jesus never asked us to carry the weight of the world.

He simply asked us to come to Him.

As medical providers and volunteers, it’s natural for us to want to fix people.

That’s what we do.

We want to heal every illness, solve every problem, and make everyone feel better.

We can treat an infection.

We can lower someone’s blood pressure.

We can clean wounds.

We can provide medications.

Those things matter, and they can truly change someone’s life.

But we cannot heal a broken heart.

We cannot remove fear.

We cannot give someone lasting peace.

Only Jesus can do that.

That doesn’t make what we’re doing any less important.

It actually makes it even more meaningful.

Because we’re not here simply to provide medical care.

We’re here to reflect Christ.

Sometimes the greatest thing we’ll offer someone this week won’t be a prescription.

It will be eye contact. A smile. Holding someone’s hand. Praying with them. Taking an extra minute to really listen. Making someone feel seen, valued, and loved.

People may not remember every medication they received.

But they’ll remember how they were treated.

Because ultimately, that’s why we’re here.

Not to be the Savior, but to point people to Him.

This verse also reminds us to care for ourselves spiritually.

Serving is beautiful, but it can also be exhausting.

Long days. Language barriers. Emotional stories. Watching people suffer. Trying to meet endless needs.

If we’re not careful, we’ll spend all of our energy pouring into everyone else while forgetting to let Jesus pour back into us.

You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Before we care for another patient, we have to let Jesus care for us.

Before we carry someone else’s burdens, we have to lay our own burdens at His feet.

Because the strength we need this week won’t come from our own abilities.

It comes from resting in Him.

I don’t know what each of you carried onto this plane when we came to Honduras.

Maybe it’s something no one else in this room knows about.

But I know this: Jesus sees every burden.

He sees the version of us that smiles while quietly struggling.

He sees the tired version.

The anxious version.

The grieving version.

The version wondering what comes next.

And instead of asking us to carry it better…

He simply says,

Come to me.”

And when we’re tired at the end of the day, when our feet hurt and our hearts feel heavy, let’s remember that this invitation isn’t just for the people we’re serving.

It’s for us too.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”