Broken Heart and Opened Eyes

About a year ago, I read the book, A Hole in Our Gospel and never dreamed it would wreck my heart the way it did. The author was a once wealthy business man living in a ritzy neighborhood until he submitted to God's will and became the president of World Vision, moved into a middle class home and started spending much of his time in Africa and other poverty stricken countries. He didn't just give the grim statistics, he painted a picture of what life was like for the millions living in these circumstances. My heart began to break and I just knew something wasn't right about my living in a nice, comfortable home, with my needs being met, simply sending a check to a few local and global organizations to help support these people. God was preparing me to get out of my comfort zone. It was clear that if I truly wanted our family to live the gospel, we had to do something. Knowing the basics of what the Bible said about our responsibility to the poor, I began to dig and search the scriptures for the Truth. What were we to do? I picked out about 10 verses and we began to pray. I listed them on a sheet of paper and gave a copy to each of the kids and ask them to pray over each verse. Then every night we would discuss them during our Bible study time. We began to realize that Jesus had a broken heart for the poor, the widowed and the orphaned. With that new found knowledge, our prayer became, "LORD, break our hearts for the things that break your heart". This is when we saw transformation. The homeless in our city were no longer the ones who were too lazy to get a job and just wanted a free ride. The drug addicts, prisoners and prostitutes were no longer the low lifes who took the wrong path. The orphans were no longer just the product of irresponsible parents. These are the ones that God's heart is broken for. He desperately wants them to know Him. His love, his peace, his protection, his restoration, his mercy, his grace. But, if we truly love Christ, we should want that for them too. How are they to find it?......The church...not the building, ME and YOU that's how! In the book, Red Letters, by Tom Davis, he says, "There's nothing more important on God's agenda than caring for the sick and the hurting the poor and the orphan. There's nothing more rewarding than giving our lives to those who need the most help. I think it's pretty clear that this means following Christ is all about helping the outcast." If you agree with me, the only thing left to do is the same thing my family had to do; ask the LORD, "what role do you need us to play in the lives of the out-cast". Trust me, if you ask that question.... He WILL answer it.

Stay tuned to hear how He answered that prayer for us.

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.."

Proverbs 24:12

Blessings,