"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will seperate the people as a shepherd separtates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'
"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?'
"And the King will say, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'
"Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thristy, and you didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and ou didn't visit me.'
Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?'
"And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'
"And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."
Recently, it seems as though God has been giving me reminders of passions and disires He placed in my heart years ago. Through various people and organizations, He has been tugging at my heart. Breaking is again for the lost and hurting. I remember just a few short years ago, I was continuosly burdened with compassion for the broken. The ones that were in poverty, had no hope, and had no Jesus. I knew then that my life needed to be dedicated to helping in any way I could. Whether that meant bringing awareness or going to those places myself. I remember thinking that I didn't care what I needed to do or what I had to live without, I was going to be Jesus hands and feet. Over a course of time, I began to forget the dreams and started to live in "reality". I still cared but I needed to start thinking about rent, gas food and other bills. I didn't have time to help. I could give money and pray but I was too busy to give my time. But thankfuly my God loves me too much to let me forget.
About 2 months ago I overheard two people talking about how they believe that God didn't want them to be "burdened" with the problems of this world. God wanted them to care and have compassion but being burdened was not part of it. I began to think about this and this conversation has been playing over and over in my head. Is it true that God does not want us to be burdened? Yes, God asks us to cast our burdens on Him but I also feel that if we were never burdened with compassion then, nothing would ever get change. The people in the past (and present) that are making a change started doing so because they were burdened. They so bothered by the issue and they had so much love for the ones in need that they wouldn't just stand by and watch. The did something. I think that there are things we get burdened with that we shouldn't be (finances, stress, etc) but I think that being burdened with compassion towards the broken is okay. We can take that burden to God and he will help us to help others. I may be wrong in saying any of this but its how I feel.
With all of that said God has begun to re-awaken something inside of me. A dream and desire to be the change. Last night, with tears in my eyes, I expressed to my husband how I felt. How I was tired of being a by stander and I was ready to take a stand and help in any way I could. I thank God for him because at that moment he took my hands and told me that he was waiting for this day to come. He knew when he married me that I had these dreams and he was waiting for the time that I would come to him and tell him my plan. Then he continued to tell me that whatever it was that I decided to do, he would be there to support me 100% no matter what it was. He knew this is a God-given passion and he wasn't going to stand in the way. I love him so much. I thank God for all he has been speaking to me and for what I know He is going to do through me in the future. And also for the other amazing people who are so inspiring to me. (Amanda, Laurie, Sara and most of all my mom). This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for.
