Compelling Compassion

This week I read an email from a father asking for prayer for his son who had doused himself with gasoline and lit a match. A student of mine was attending the funeral of a mother in her 40's who had battled breast cancer for 10 years. She left behind teenage children. A father of one of my students died just a few weeks before school started, of cancer. The world is a perplexing and painful place to live in! I have found that no matter how difficult, painful or trying my situation is there is always someone who is going through a trial that is even worse! In the case of the three situations I have mentioned I feel pretty helpless to offer anything that would alleviate their pain. So I turn to the Bible and look for an answer there. Over and over in the New Testament we see Jesus being moved with compassion and acting. Because of compassion he healed the sick, fed the hungry and touched the lepers. His father is described as the "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." The very nature of the heart of the Father and the Son is compassion. That compassion compelled them to act.

A profound life change happened to me about 19 years ago when I was on a missions trip to Peru. Our pastor was on that trip and he had given us a challenge to ask God for something beyond ourselves. I remember praying and asking God to give me his compassion for others, not just mine. That night we were invited to share at a church service. When the service was over our pastor asked people to come forward if they needed healing. A lady walked up to me holding a baby who could not have been more than 6 months old. She just placed her baby in my arms and stood there in silence. I looked at this baby and had no idea what was wrong or how to pray. I closed my eyes and felt something so powerful that I knew it had to be from God. I felt an intense, deep compassion for this baby and mother. It gripped my heart and I just started to sob! The emotions were so intense that I could not even pray. God knew what this baby needed, I did not. When the tears stopped, I gently gave the baby back to the mother. This had never happened to me and I was a little shaken and surprised by the depth of emotion I felt. I don't know if the mother thought I was a crazy white person drenching her baby with tears, but she smiled and walked away. As I later processed that evening with God, He reminded me that I had asked to be filled with His compassion for others. When we returned to that village a week later the pastor told us that child had been having daily seizures since she was born and that from the moment I had prayed for her, the seizures stopped! I began crying all over again because I understood then what had happened to me that night. My heavenly Father knew the anguish in this mother's heart and the pain this child suffered. I believe he allowed me to feel His great love and compassion for them both. Since that time I have felt His compelling compassion pressing in on my spirit to act and move to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. The power of prayer has become the greatest gift I can offer. I have seen it heal broken hearts and broken bodies. It can fill a person with peace and joy. It can bring hope where there is none. It can comfort when nothing else can. I believe it is God's language of love spoken through us.

The next time you are feeling like the heaviness and pain of life is about to suffocate you, look around and ask God to give you His heart of compassion. There is always someone who is suffering more than you are. You may not feel like you are in any position to offer help, but you can. Comfort, hope and healing may only be a prayer away. And don't be concerned if you cry all over someone. Tears and laughter are universal languages. Don't wait until all your pain is gone before you reach out to others with Christ's compelling compassion. Like me, you may find it is part of your own healing!