Do Something About It

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." (Matthew 9:37)

Compassion is seeing the world through the eyes of Jesus and then doing something about it. The second half is not optional, and it is not advanced. It is the definition. And notice that the first thing Jesus tells them to do about it is pray. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers into his harvest. That sounds like a soft answer until you keep reading, because in the very next chapter he calls the twelve and sends them out. They prayed for workers. They became the workers.

That is how it almost always goes. If you have ever prayed earnestly for God to do something about a situation and then felt a horrible sinking suspicion in your stomach, you already know exactly what this means. The prayer for compassion is dangerous, because the God who hears it tends to answer it through the one who prayed it.

So be careful what you ask him to fix. He may hand you a coat and point at the door. That is not God refusing your prayer; it is God honoring it by making you part of the answer. The distance between feeling something about the world's need and doing something about it is often exactly one obedient yes, offered the moment you realize the worker you were praying for is you. Pray the dangerous prayer anyway. Just do not be surprised when it comes back with your own name on it.