You’re Seeing It For A Good Reason!

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The Burden is Real!

A while back, I was burdened while reading the verses that passionately urged the church to take care of the poor. I soon felt a deep longing, a need to do something practical, beyond giving to the benevolence fund at my church. Have you ever felt a burden and thought, “Why doesn’t someone do something about this problem, for goodness sake!”

Has that happened to you? Or do you see stuff happening in your community or in the news and then wonder “Who’s gonna fix this?!”

You’re not alone. Jesus’s disciples also felt the burden.

5,000+ people had gathered on the side of a hill, their hearts glued to everything Jesus spoke. At the end of the day, His disciples felt the burden. Their minds and bodies were in tune with the hunger of the people. They saw, they felt, and they brought the need to Jesus — as if the Anointed One were disconnected with the needs of the people in front of Him. But if Jesus knew the people needed to be fed, did you ever wonder why He didn’t bring it up Himself? (In a later account about the 4,000, He did bring up the need to feed.)

In this instance, His disciples saw the need. Were they actually seeing what the Father was doing (or wanted to do)? How long did Jesus have to wait for them to see what He no doubt already saw and sensed. How long did He wait for them to speak up about it?

Jesus never missed an opportunity to disciple His disciples. So when He said, “You feed them,” was He perhaps teaching them to be accountable for what the Father was showing them, to respond to a God-initiated burden?

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Let’s get personal

What need do you see? No, really. Take a minute to think about it. What are you seeing or sensing in your neighborhood, city, church, or nation that makes you ask, “Why doesn’t someone do something about this. Why do people keep letting this happen?” What plight of another hurts your heart?

Here’s one of my burdens: Women in marital crisis. Some of these wives are stuck in such toxic environments that they need housing and protection right now. My heart hurts for them. What could little me do about it?

No matter how seemingly outrageous or insignificant, if a particular burden crossed your mind, then take a second to write it down. It doesn’t matter if it’s beyond you.

Look at your hands

What supplies, no matter how meager, do you have on hand? Moses had a staff. The widow had nothing but a flask of oil. The disciples had a couple of loaves. You have something, what is it?

Although I started with only the skill of writing and organization, here’s where those items brought me to today: a book, which I wrote based on my own experience and that of other women in marital crisis. A heart and mind to tackle my burden rather than complain that “Nobody’s doing anything about this!” And a strategy, which has yet to come to fruition. 

What (skill, resource, education…) do you have in front of you that you could offer to God as a sacrifice on the altar of your heart? Write it down.

The step of faith

What will you now ask the Father for? God’s got the perfect strategies and solutions waiting. We only need to talk to Him about the burden that He put on our hearts. And don’t let your logic get in the way, because if you had all the answers and solutions already, then He wouldn’t get all the glory. He uses the foolish things to shame the wise, right?

What am I asking for? Actually, I’m not yet at liberty to share publicly. But it’s all practical, it’s all beyond my own ability to produce, and it thrills me to life!

No more excuses. You’ve got the burden and the heart. You see what’s “in your hand.” Now activate your faith. Faith with out works is only fantasy, and living in a fantasy has no rewards.

Sowing Seeds of Bravery to Activate Faith

P.S. Just to bring us full circle on my burden to help the poor (first paragraph). I found a place close by to serve weekly, and it’s so rewarding. One of the pantries in the Dallas/Fort Worth mid cities area had been right down the street all along, but I only learned about it because of the pressures of Covid-2020. God works all things for the good to those who love Him and are called.