So at the beginning of this month I asked God what I needed to grow in. What I received from Him was compassion. Compassion, huh. I don’t consider myself an uncompassionate person. I was thinking through areas of weakness and thinking well maybe I need to be more compassionate… I could definitely be more compassionate. I considered that empathy maybe more what I’m missing. Perhaps I struggled to show empathy to people?
Don’t worry, the message came in loud and clear this morning. Our ministry this month is working with street kids. Their goal is to help these kids get to school. So every morning they drive around and pick up the kids in their program and bring them back to their center. They feed them, bathe them (most can do this themselves), and give them a clean school uniform. Then, they walk them to school.
So one day this past week I was on pick up duty. The first two little boys we picked up (they are brothers) were asleep next to a flag pole. They had found a flat surface raised from the ground. The two boys were cuddled so closely together is was hard to see them at first. My team mate and I walked over to the little boys dead asleep. We were trying to wake them up, “Good Morning! Good Morning!” They were so tired they could barely open their eyes. The older brother had his legs tucked inside his shirt trying to stay warm (I’m just happy he had a shirt; he didn’t have one the day before). We had no luck getting them to wake up, so we scooped up the brothers and take them to the truck. My heart breaks as I carry this little body completely exhausted to the truck. He barely had enough energy to get into the truck and then collapsed on my lap when I sat down. The other brother collapsed in my teammate’s lap.
As I help this exhausted little boy, I noticed the signs of living on the streets. His body had scares from scraps and mosquito bites. His skin was tough from living outside in the elements. He was helpless in my arms. He has just enough energy to place his head against my shoulder. As I held this little boy I thought to myself, “you’re safe”. I knew that he was on his way to clean clothes, a warm meal, and a bath.
Compassion took on a new meaning for me as I held that exhausted little body and took him to the center to help him get ready for school. Compassion is more than just an emotion; it is an action. It is changing a situation for someone who doesn’t have the power to change it them self.
This is a beautiful picture of what Jesus does for us! He comes to us exhausted, unable to provide for ourselves and goes, “I’ve got this, don’t worry. You just sleep in my arms and I’ll get you where you need to be.” Jesus gave me a small taste of what true compassion really means through this little boy and showed me a new facet of His love.
