"I cannot do anything but go." This was my conclusion when God showed me His love for the youth in Kenya. I didn't just learn about God's love, but I experienced it myself. I personally experienced compassion for these children and teenagers, and I couldn't do anything else but take action. I went to Kenya last year (2024) and decided to stay in East Africa for a longer period.
In this article, I want to share more about this process. I want to talk about how God leads us by touching our hearts with something specific. Sometimes we make discovering God's will appear hard or vague, but that's the exact opposite of how God leads us. In my last blog, I explained how God primarily leads us by the desires in our inner being. In this blog, I'll share more about this and how it actually works. And that has everything to do with love!
In Matthew 14:14, we read:
"And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."
Jesus saw. Jesus was moved. Jesus acted. In this order. That doesn't sound very complicated, does it? This was how Jesus often operated. We read about Him 'being moved with compassion' multiple times in Scripture. Jesus is our Example of how someone can walk in God's plan for their life. We can follow Jesus' example: Seeing, being moved, acting.
This kind of love that touches your heart and causes you to take action is one of the themes in Paul's letters. Love was Paul's motivation for ministry and the force behind it. Love was the fuel for His ministry. And he also explains to us how love causes our lives to bear fruit.
Paul writes in Philippians 1:8-11:
"For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (ESV)
Paul shows us what it means to be moved by love: he yearns for the believers in Philippi. With the affection of Jesus Christ Who lives in him. Just like Jesus, Paul was moved with compassion which led to him taking action. Could this be the key to Paul's impressive statement: "I labored more abundantly than they all" (1 Corinthians 15:10)?
This compassion is not just working in Paul's life. No, it also works in the lives of the believers from Philippi and for you and me. Paul prays for us that our love may abound more and more. Because as our love abounds, we'll be able to discern the road we should take. We'll be able to discover which choices to make and how we can do the will of God. A life lived like this fills us with 'the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God'.
For me, it was compassion for children in Kenya. For whom do you feel the love and compassion of Jesus? For whom do you want to take action? God's will and plan for your life are not found somewhere out there. No, it starts in your heart by knowing the heart of Jesus. It starts with discovering His love for people. Once you've discovered this love, you can't do anything but take action!
I trust this article has blessed you! For more articles, please visit my website www.steinversluis.com.
Blessings from Uganda!
Stein