There was a phrase I heard seven years ago that truly changed my life.
In 2011, I experienced foreign mission work for the first time in my life. In the summer before my junior year I found myself worshipping the Lord, outside, on the grounds of Mission of Hope in Haiti.
The preacher that night was from Oklahoma. He had come with my church on this trip and he spoke a word that I have considered in my mind countless times since.
Kaleb said, “Consider what burdens the heart of the Lord.”
Had I ever done that? As a sixteen year old, I knew I loved the Lord, but in the regular struggles of life, had I stopped to consider what burdened His heart? I couldn’t think of a time that I had. Rather, I remembered vividly moments in which I had hurled anger and blame towards Him in my sadness and pain and confusion.
Can anyone relate?
Instead of realizing that the Lord’s heart can be burdened, I was focused on what burdened my own.
That night I asked God to burden my heart with what burdened His. And friends, He did. Over the years, the Lord has revealed more and more to me about what burdens His heart, and do you want to know what it is?
It’s the child whose parents abuse her.
It’s the orphan who hasn’t eaten today.
It’s the woman who was put in a nursing home only to be forgotten by her family.
It’s the mom who gives her children alcohol so they won’t feel the hunger.
It’s the sexual minority who gets treated as if they are less than a human.
It’s the siblings that get split up in foster care.
It’s the middle-aged man who is struggling with thoughts of suicide.
It’s the teenager with autism who gets bullied at school.
It’s the man struggling with a drug addiction.
It’s the child sold into slavery.
It’s the person who chose to sell that child into slavery.
It’s the person you passed by as you got your coffee.
It’s your boss.
It’s your neighbor.
It’s your wife.
It’s you.
God’s heart is burdened by watching the people He created and loves in pain, in sin, in confusion and in loss. God’s heart is burdened by those living without knowledge of Him, and even those living in direct opposition to Him, because, y’all, He died for e v e r y s i n g l e one of us.
And the gift of grace is given to ALL who accept that the sacrifice of Jesus paid for the sin we commit. Truly, no one is worthy and yet, everyone is welcome.
And this, yes this, is why I am sure that the Lord has called me to the World Race.
For the last seven years He has been molding my heart, burdening it, revealing how He sees His people and pouring His love out on me- all for His glory. Now I can take that message and spread it throughout the world. I can tell the orphan, the prostitute and the widow that God loves them and that He is burdened for them, because, friends, He most definitely is.
And you can do this, too. You don’t have to travel the world to pour out God’s truth and love on people. You can do that wherever God calls you, even your hometown.
And what’s more is He is burdened for you, too. He is burdened for your soul. That is why He sent His son to die- to give you and I the opportunity to receive forgiveness and have a relationship with the Lord.
So what burdens the heart of the Lord? Or, rather, who?
