Nehemiah 1:4

So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 1:4

It broke Nehemiah’s heart to hear about God’s people and the city of Jerusalem in such trouble. The people were being afflicted and reproached by the nations around them; the city walls were broken down, and its gates burned. The distress that was in Nehemiah’s heart was seen in his reaction. He “sits and weeps and mourns for many days” over the goings on in Jerusalem.

But that’s not all; it also drove him to his knees in prayer and fasting. You see, God doesn’t want us to simply see a need and be brokenhearted over it; He wants that compassion to move us to help. You see this again and again in Jesus. In Matthew 14, we read, “Jesus saw the multitudes, and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” In Mark 6, Jesus saw the people as “Sheep without a shepherd,” and moved by compassion, He “began to teach them many things.” Again, in Mark 1, when He came across a man with leprosy, “Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him,” healing the man.

You see, if you see a need and it’s breaking your heart, maybe it’s because God’s desiring to use you to bring Jesus to the needy, and the needy to Jesus.

Pastor Doug Hardin