What breaks your heart? What injustice makes you angry when you see reports about it on the news? There are a lot of things to choose from: people going to bed without enough to eat, lack of basic healthcare in some places, children being abused, the web of sex and child trafficking, the ease of access to porn, and the list goes on. It is likely that there is one topic that really gets you excited and makes you want to do something to fix it. That is the place where your God-given talents and giftings meet the world. That is where you have been specially created for a ‘good work’ – your ministry.
Jesus primary ministry was to save the world through his sacrifice, but he also worked person to person as he encountered them. He had compassion for each person he met and their specific situation. Many times he was moved to help them. But he loved his people so much that he wept over the ones he couldn’t get to. Think about this for a minute. We celebrate Palm Sunday with lots of excitement and think about Jesus entering Jerusalem as a king of peace (on a donkey). The people are shouting and singing. But we read in Luke 19, “41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.” Jesus, on a day of celebration, wept! He was overcome by what he knew would be in store for the people of the city and their current state of mind. In Matthew 23 we get another glimpse of Jesus’ heart for the city, “37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
We need to have that kind of love. A love that weeps over the people we encounter and a compassion that moves us to action when we see a need – to make a difference. If we notice something isn’t right, we can work to fix it, we can raise awareness, we can love in the midst of the crisis. Look for the places where your heart cries, that is God’s job for you!
