January 1st almost always brings in a renewed hope for me. Hope in mankind, hope in God, and hope for what this year will be, just as December almost always puts me in reflective mode. However I have never quite been as reflective as I am this year. Last January while working on a creative piece for the Conspire conference, I found myself very touched by the lyrics of the song Hosanna, by Hillsong United. Overtime there was a verse that God seemed to be focusing me on, and it became a prayer.
…Open up my eyes to things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your Kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth to eternity.
During much of 2009 I felt a deep sadness for the hardships of life all around. We have all see it this year, the closing of eras, sickness, job loss, family hardships, extreme poverty… Throughout 2009, there seemed to be an extra amount of sadness in the world. The aha moment came recently as I shared this story with some dear friends and realized God had used 2009 to show me what breaks His heart. God uses a variety of means to speak and teach each of us, for me God used a little girl named Lucy to remind me that his heart is broken for the orphan, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duyL9UjLrdM
He used the situation that some sweet neighbor children are in, to remind us that his heart is broken when a family collapses, because their financial world is shattered, and they are fearful to turn to the church that hurt them in the past.
He used organizations like IJM, Nuru, and Kiva to show his sadness at extreme poverty. “That desperate people will do desperate things.” http://www.nuruinternational.org/videophoto/
That His heart is broken when we ask the lost to find their own way to church on “our” terms, instead of being like Jesus and walking among them in kindness and in love.
It breaks his heart when we hide behind our religious safe holds.
He used two seriously ill little girls to teach me how broken his heart is over the sick.
He used a small church to teach me that ALL children deserve a chance at a deep relationship with him.
His heart breaks when his children stay in the safety of the huddle? Be the team he has called us to be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN7Z5w_j0Ac
So as we approach January 1st 2010 I find myself with a new hope to respond and be a little more like Jesus than I was in 2009. That God will “show me how to Love like you have loved me, everything I am for your Kingdom’s cause.”
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