Compassionate Urgency

Psalm‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8‬, ‭ESV‬‬

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

When we know Jesus, we have something the rest of the world lives without—the joy and peace which come only from knowing God. 

For a person who doesn’t know Jesus, even their highest moments are fleeting, futile, and fragile. I absolutely cannot imagine trying to navigate through this life without the peace and joy which come from knowing deep inside my soul that I have a loving heavenly Father who holds my life in His hands. But, so many of the people around us are doing just that. They are navigating through life with anxiety and hopelessness because they don't know the One who knows them. 

And that should break our hearts. 

That should cause us to feel a deep, grievous compassion for the people around us who don’t know Jesus. 

And, it should create within us an urgent desire for those people—and especially for the people we have access to—to meet Jesus. Just like it did with Jesus:

Luke 19:5

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 

John 4:4

And he had to pass through Samaria. [to encounter the Samaritan woman at the well] 

This is the kind of urgency I want to have. So often, we get it completely backwards. We get urgent about the things we should feel complacency about, and we get complacent about the things we should feel urgency about.

Oh Lord, change our hearts!

If we’re going to make an impact for the kingdom of God, and be a part of what God is doing around the world right now, then we’re going to have to ask God to break our hearts for what breaks His. We're going to have to ask God that we would see the people around us through His eyes. We’re going to have to have compassionate urgency—about people. Not about earthly goals or politics or money or position—about people.

Oh Lord, create within us a heart of compassionate urgency for those who need You—and send us to them. Amen.