Heart of a missionary
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Matthew 9:35-38 ESV
Here we read that Jesus walking around to the different cities and villages and do a lot of teaching and healings. It says He heal every sickness and I guess it’s not two or three people in every location. He heals maybe hundreds of people on these locations.
It’s not only that He heals people, but He has compassion for all of them because they were lost sheep without a shepherd.
And I will stop there and talk about the important word compassion, what does the word compassion mean? What does it mean for you?
For a Christian point of view it means to feel passion for someone, or to enter empathetically into a person ́s sorrow and pain. It’s not the same as sympathy, which lacks action and power.
Compassion is much deeper emotion, compelling one into action. For it is God himself within us identifying with the emotional pain of another. God is not content to view suffering from a distance. He uses His surrendered people to get involved. He expresses His care through our emotions and corresponding actions to impact those in need. One of the strongest expressions of the love of God is compassion.
Compassion has power, for it is God ́s own power that is at work within and then through us. But we have a choice to either allow Him to move or we can close our hearts.
When you see a person I need I really hope that you will have an open heart for what God will do in you and through you. That you will have compassion for that person you see and meet. And you dare to step out of the boat and start to walk on water which mean get out from your comfort zone. And meet that person needs.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
But ask God to help you to have compassion so you start to feel what He feels, to see through His eyes, and respond with His love.
This is the heart of a missionary.
/David Mellesdal
