We are a nation overrun with information. We have access to news stations 24/7 these days. If you don’t happen to watch the news on TV, that’s okay. There’s always the paper. Don’t get the paper? No worries. There’s an app for that.
And if you don’t like to keep up on the news on your own, there’s always Facebook.
There are heartwarming stories and ones that will just break your heart to pieces.
Back to the Ice Bucket Challenge.
I’m so proud of my kids. They heard about it. Two of them were nominated and actually did it. But all three donated something.
At first, my daughter just wanted to do it because all her friends were doing it, and she didn’t want to be left out. And she didn’t want to back away from a challenge. (She’s just a little competitive.)
Before I let her do it, I had her watch the video of how it all started with Pete Fretes so she would full understand why everyone was doing this. She literally had tears rolling down her face.
Her heart was broken, and she looked at me and said, “Mama. That’s so awful. Can we pray for him?” I love the compassion in her little heart.
At that moment, as I looked at her, I wasn’t thinking about ALS or Pete Fretes or the disease at all. All I could see were the hundreds of girls that were being sold, possibly even that minute, in sex trafficking.
I thought of orphans in India who were starving. I thought of 14-year-old kids in orphanages in Russia too old to stay but too young to be on the streets who were possibly committing suicide that very minute.
I thought of the Christians who were running for their lives, or giving up their lives, right at that very moment, and my heart was broken.
Whenever crowds came to Him, He had compassion for them because they were so deeply distraught, malaised, and heart-broken. They seemed to Him like lost sheep without a shepherd. Jesus understood what an awesome task was before Him, so He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field.” (Matthew 9:36-38)
I love that Alli’s first response after she saw the video was not to go out and dump water on her head or even donate. I love that her first response to her brokenness was to pray. To release God’s power into the situation.
I have been praying, “Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours.” And He has. But then, what do you do with that broken heart?
I think one reason this Ice Bucket Challenge has been so successful is that it looked in the face of an impossible situation – a situation where people feel so hopeless and helpless – and gave them something TO DO about it.
It was quick. It was easy. It was relatively painless. You felt like you accomplished something. You saw your donation go in. You saw others accept your challenge and challenge others. You saw it moving forward towards a goal.
We tend to look away from what hurts and back away from what we can’t fix. But He has something else in mind. He wants us to stare it down and do something.
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30)
God is throwing down another challenge. It won’t always be quick and easy. You might not see immediate results with your eyes. At times it will break your heart almost more than you can stand it.
He’s looking for someone who will look in the face of hopeless situations who won’t back down. Who will stand up and say, “I accept that challenge. I will pray. I will release Your power. I will stand in the gap as long as it takes to see change.”
Say it with me now, “Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours.”
I accept this challenge. And I nominate you to join me…