An Anguised Heart = A Compelled Heart

 Yesterday, I was watching a DVD I had laying around. It just so happened to be a missions DVD. Go figure! As I was watching it, I found this little segment with children from different parts of the world telling of their tragedies.
  There was a young boy who was caught up in drugs; he had TB and AIDS.
There was a young girl who had been kidnapped, along with her little sister, and sold into sex slavery in Bangkok, Thailand.
And then, there was a 13 year old boy from Africa... soldiers came into his village and demanded that all the young boys come with them. His father refused so they to him around the back of his house... And cut off his head. They then took the boy, cut him under his arm and put heroin in the wound. From then on this little boy did everything they asked of him. He killed. Raped. And Stole. Anything they asked of him..

  And so there I was, still sitting in front of my little DVD player....
And God broke my heart for these children. All I could do was sit there and weep. I was literally in anguish and in agony for these children. I could not stop crying. And I wondered, "How could any child endure such tragedy? Such heartache? They are so young yet they have endured some of the cruelest situations life could possibly offer." And then I asked myself, "What if that were me?... What if that were me?"

Anguish- extreme pain and distress. The emotions so stirred that it becomes painful. Acute deeply felt inner pain because conditions about you, in you, or around you.


  Do you realize that there are people all over the world dealing with these same situations right now? There are people out there dying. They are hungry, they are thirsty, they are weak, they are defenseless. They are desperate. And when I look at the pictures and watch the videos and think about the children I met in South Africa dealing with these things... I can't help but feel anything but anguish! But you know what?
                                         An Anguished Heart = A Compelled Heart.

 Today I saw another video dealing with the issue of these children being lost and abandoned.
It made me realize that often, we are too caught up in our own lives to even care about these children! They are alone on the streets: starving and dying... alone. But who cares? Who will come to pick them up and hold them? Who will come to wipe their tears away and feed them? As this video states: "As Christians we often say, 'Well, isn't it wonderful that God is a father to the fatherless? That He takes care of His children?'
And you know what? How do you think God is going to care for them? Through you and through me!"

   God doesn't come down from the heavens and feed and cloth them! No! He sends us! He calls us to go! So He can do it through us! We are His hands. WE are His body! And if no one goes, what will become of these children who have no one to care for them? Who will tell them of their father in heaven who loves them?!

 If we truly have the heart of Christ, we should be having a deep concern for people like this. When your heart is in anguish for the lost and the hurting, you are compelled to do something about it! You don't just go back and sit on your couch and never worry about it or never think of it again. NO! It disturbs you and moves you and burdens your heart so much that you can't be still! You feel the need to go and do something about it or at least spend time in prayer! God weeps for His children! If we have His heart, we should never pass by someone with a need and feel like we don't have to be concerned about them!

  God recently laid something on my heart which is this:

If you want to see people saved and lay down their lives at the cross, if you want to see revival and transformation-

YOU HAVE TO GET DESPERATE FOR THE DESPERATE!

With and aguished and desperate heart,
Olivia (Thabisa) Cartwright

This is the video that I mentioned. It really stirrs my heart every time.