"First World Problems" or "First World Solutions"?

I'm always intrigued by the conversations my wife and I get into especially on date nights. Recently she was sharing with me how she had been thinking a lot about the hashtag we see a lot "First World Problems". She's an elementary teacher and in dealing with kids you hear quite a bit of situations that fit that.

She shared how she taught a Bible lesson recently about thankfulness and how that relates to us here in the developed world.

We do take much for granted. And we mostly know this. If you've traveled outside the U.S. like I have you know just how good we have it here. Clean water, opportunity to labor and be paid a decent wage, freedom to worship and free speech... All examples of how blessed we are here in the "First World".

So the discussion led to this thought. What are we doing within our First World for others? And I pose the question to my own self too.

Maybe it's just being friendly to the barista at your favorite coffee shop. Or being mindful and sensitive that God might lead you to help someone you're not even aware of is in need?

You need not be "in" ministry to be a minister.

I think it's easy to "mock" the hashtag here, but instead let's use it as a reminder for action. A reminder to "do" more then just "say".

Showing God's love and grace to our community. Being God's hands and feet in the daily world we navigate in.

THAT is how we create a different world.

Today make a point to do something positive in our first world. Pay it forward or whatever you'd like to label it.

Be a small part of what could be a big miracle for somebody else.

#FirstWorldSolutions

D