Compassion
Have you ever had a moment when
something just struck you? When you were
going about your typical everyday routine, and something made you just stop in
your tracks? I had one of those moments
several weeks ago.
Living
near to Atlanta, I’ve been to the downtown of the city on numerous
occasions. Were it not for the FOX
Theater, the excellent museums, and other remarkable attractions, it wouldn’t
exactly be a place that would bring me a sense of excitement. Like most other major cities, it has its
crime, its shadowy dark alleys, and graffiti-marked bridges and buildings. But it’s a big city. It’s what you expect to find in a city of its
populace rank. Another familiar sight on
the streets of downtown Atlanta is homeless, unemployed residents.
I
live with my family outside of Atlanta, tucked away in the suburbs and away
from all that comes with living in a big city.
To me, Atlanta is Atlanta and my home is my home; they’re two very
different worlds. And they’re very
distinctly separated. What you find in
Atlanta is not what you expect to find in my small town, and what you find in
my small town is not what you find in Atlanta.
That’s just the way it is.
My
mom and I were driving home from my riding lesson several weeks ago when we
stopped to pick up some groceries. As we
were driving out of the shopping plaza, I noticed a man sitting on the curb and
holding a “Will Work For Food” sign. It
made me stop in my tracks. It shook my
little world. Here was a sight I had
often seen in Atlanta, but right in my small town? It hit home for me… literally.
Immediately
I was reminded of one of my favorite songs, What If
She’s an Angel by country singer Tommy Shane
Steiner. This song has always
made me stop and think- the lyrics are so thought-provoking- but after that
incident, it strikes me even deeper. The
song describes three scenes: a man standing on a corner holding a “Will Work
For Food” sign, a woman living in an apartment with an abusive husband, and a
little girl with cancer. Each verse ends
posing a “you can…” reaction to the situation, an apathetic standpoint that
most people unfortunately take in the situation. The chorus goes on to pose the question of
what if these people in these situations are angels sent from Heaven as a test
to make sure we’re doing our job to help each other in our times of need.
Okay,
if you’re anything like me, you want to crawl under the table at this
point. It’s all right to feel that way;
conviction is a good thing. In fact, if
you don’t feel the Holy Spirit’s prick of your conscience, you’re in a very
dangerous place to be. And God is
compassionate to His children in their mistakes and short-comings. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow
to anger, abounding in love. He will not
always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever.” (Ps 103:8&9) “As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are
formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Ps 103:13&14) Crawl out from under the table now; we have
good news! Even with all our faults, God
understands our weaknesses and the nature of our human flesh and He still loves
us, still forgives us, and still gives us another chance to do it right. The important thing is that we allow the Holy
Spirit’s conviction to motivate us to do something about our mistakes and make
a difference in how we live.
When
I listen to this song, it forces me to evaluate my heart. It forces me to ask myself, “Do I really have
Christ’s compassion for others?” I
admit, if I’m honest with myself, I don’t always like the answer on some
days. These kinds of people in these
kinds of situations are exactly the type of people that Christ ministered to
though: the hopeless and desperate, the hurting, and the sick. “Jesus went through all towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and
healing every disease and sickness. When
he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to the disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers
are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,
therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Mt 9:35-38) But are the children of God really answering
that call to become workers in the harvest field? Do we really have His heart for not only the
other disciples, but for the crowd as well?
It takes courage to be sure; the crowd can be fierce, cruel, and
ruthless sometimes. It’s easy to have
compassion when you don’t actually have to get involved in the drama of the
situation, when you don’t have to act on it, but let’s be honest… compassion
without action is not genuine compassion.
I
close encouraging you to do two things.
Number one: look up the song What If She’s an
Angel. Whether country music is
your type of genre or not, I’m confident you’ll be able to find something in
the message of this song to walk away with.
(As a clarification though, I am not endorsing all of Tommy Shane
Steiner’s music. As with all of my song
suggestions, my recommendation only pertains to the song I specifically
mentioned.) And challenge number two: pray
for compassion and a heart for others and move in that area when the Lord
prompts you to. Use discretion though;
we do live in a dangerous world.
Some situations are not prudent to find yourself in, despite your good
intentions. No situation is too
dangerous for prayer though even should your common sense advise you not to
enter into the situation physically. If
the Lord prompts you to minister to someone in their time of need though, be
swift to do His will. It may not always
be convenient for you and fit into your schedule, but I confess, I have ignored
that still, small voice within before, and I can assure you that it will be an
opportunity that you will regret having not taken advantage of. Don’t be hardened by a calloused and dulled
heart. Show the love and compassion of
Christ to someone today.
“Therefore, as
God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12
~We’ve all
heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords? I was struggling to decide what to name my
blog. I wanted it to be a name that was
both creative and meaningful. As I
pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom,
and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments. They are constantly in song, but what melody
our heart plays is each of our own decisions.
They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment. A musician selects his songs according to his
audience. So do we. Whether our audience is the world or the
Lord, our song will be different. This
blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His
guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me
in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my
heart-instrument. Music is a powerful
tool. Use it for His glory. “He
put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in
the Lord.” Psalm 40:3
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