Weeping and Working

Alexander Maclaren said, “Tell me the depth of a Christian man’s compassion, and I will tell you the measure of his usefulness.”

How deep does your compassion go? God is still looking for such people. A lot of Christians say they are too timid or afraid of this or that to share their faith with an unbeliever. But I think, in reality, they don’t really have a burden for them.

Nehemiah was in a position of great influence and power serving under the king. He wasn’t a preacher. He wasn’t a priest. He wasn’t a scribe. He wasn’t in any kind of ministry, as we would call it. But he loved God. And one day, someone told him about the plight of the Jews and how the walls of Jerusalem that once stood in honor of God lay in ruins.

Nehemiah began to weep and pray. But after his weeping came working. After his despair came determination. It touched him, and he wanted to do something about it. So he prayed and devised a plan, and then that plan began to unfold.

Does it affect you to know there are many people who don’t know Christ, who are basically on their way to a certain judgment? Does it move you? Until you are moved in the depths of your soul, you are not going to move your feet.

Effectively sharing our faith must start with a God-given burden, leading us to prayer. And then we need to go out and do something.

I would rather go out, fall flat on my face, and make every mistake there is to make in sharing my faith than to never do anything. When we sit around and do nothing for fear of failure, we are missing what God has called us to do.