"Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest" (Matthew 9:35-38, NASB).
The challenges of life can be overwhelming. People are losing their jobs. Children are dying of cancer. Wives are being abused. Men are becoming enslaved to alcohol and drugs. Teenagers are killing each other. Homes are falling apart because of divorce. Children are moving from house to house in the foster care system, without the stability of fathers and mothers who love them and guide them.
Little girls in southeast Asia are being kidnapped and sold into forced prostitution. People are dying of AIDS, malaria, and starvation as they search for food in the city dumps of Africa. Terrorists are gaining the loyalty of disturbed young men, even as they murder thousands in the Middle East. Billions of people around the world have never seen a Bible in their own language, nor have they ever met a follower of Jesus Christ. They have no idea that God cares about them.
We live in a world of distressed and dispirited people, much like the people who moved Christ's heart with compassion as he walked the streets of Israel. Today, his church shares his compassion for such people...sometimes we are those people. So, what can we do? We cannot be everywhere. We cannot solve every problem.
First, we can pray. The problems of this world are too much for anyone of us to handle alone. We must pray that God will send us more people who will be able to do what we cannot do. We need people who can go where we cannot go. We need help...and we are in desperate need of it!
Then, we must do what we can. We must love the people around us. We must pray for their needs and help them bear their burdens however we can. If we cannot help, we must find someone with the Spirit of God who can help. Networking is essential. In addition, we must support and encourage those who are going where we cannot. We need each other.
Our task is overwhelming, but God still cares and answers prayers. He simply wants us to do our part in joining him by caring and praying, realizing our inadequacies and relying on his power.
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