PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Luke 7:11-17
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her…” (Luke 7:13)
What happens when you see someone suffering or struggling?
Does your heart go out to them?
Mine does, and often I have wished I could do what Jesus did.
I feel so helpless when I am with people who struggle.
I can’t heal them, or fix their problem, or raise the dead.
At least not yet… and believe me, I’ve tried.
I just do what I can – pray, encourage or help in practical ways.
On the one hand, this seems so weak.
On the other hand, I trust God uses me to bless others.
When our heart goes out and we do what we can, we are like Jesus.
God used Jesus’s open heart to heal and to help others.
God may choose to heal someone through us, but that is up to God.
My job is to open my heart, to be available, to do what I can.
Maybe today someone can praise God because of what you say or do!
PRAYER
Lord, open my heart for those in need… and my confidence in you that you can work through my weakness.
“his heart went out to her” – this is the heart of Jesus – it is the heart of the Father – God loves us and has deep compassion for us. We got to get that! There are so many cruel things and cruel acts in this world – but that is not God’s heart. I am sure He is deeply grieved as Jesus was at the sight of this widow going out to bury her only son! What a gift of life! But that is exactly what Jesus is for each of us if we believe. He gives me life and hope in this sad world of pain and suffering. He enables his children to be hope to those around them. Help me to have the same compassion as Jesus and reach out!
Jesus knew where He was going. He was aware of the widow’s plight. No one to care for her. He is also aware of our situations – our joys and sorrows. As He told the widow not to weep, so too He tells us not to weep. Trust Him. God is at work in our life. And unto others, I need to be an instrument of His peace and comfort and hope.
1 Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love;
where there is injury, your healing power,
and where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
2 Make me a channel of your peace:
where there’s despair in life let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, only light,
and where there’s sadness, ever joy.
3 O, Spirit, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love with all my soul.
4 Make me a channel of your peace:
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving to all that we receive,
and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.