What Breaks Your Heart

“If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

Here we see Nehemiah, a man who’d never been to Jerusalem but he had heard that the wall was in ruins and the people there preyed upon because they did not have the protection of walls and gates. His heart breaks for his people and the land where his ancestors are buried.
All of us have at least one thing that breaks our heart. I’ll tell you what breaks mine. A couple of weeks ago a car with four young people went off a rural mountain road. Two were killed, one seriously injured and one escaped with minor injuries and called 911. The one with minor injuries was the only one wearing a seat belt. My heart broke again, as it does every time this happens since a 3am knock at our door to inform us of the death of our son. He was ejected from his car because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. I have sent condolences to people I’ve never met just as I received some from strangers. That is not enough. It’s too little too late. So this blog is my first step. I can’t build the wall all by myself but I can pick up the first rock and put it in place.
If you get into a car, front or back, put on your seat belt. No matter what anyone says, put it on. Make such a pain of yourself that everyone else in the car also put theirs on, every time. If you don’t care about yourself, care enough about those you love to do all that you can to make sure they will never get that knock on the door. If you have kids hammer it into them until they hear your voice even when you aren’t there.
What breaks your heart?
People who don’t have enough to eat?
The guy begging on the corner for enough money for another drink or another fix?
Children you see on their way to school without a warm jacket when it’s too cold to be out without one?
Only you know what God is speaking into your heart.
No, you can’t build the wall by yourself but you can pick up the first rock. Set aside a few cans every time you get groceries for a food bank, take a fast food meal to the guy on the corner with a card in it for a celebrate recovery program in your area, take an outgrown jacket or one you found on sale to your local school for whoever needs it. Whatever your first step is, keep it up, you’ll be surprised how fast the wall gets built.

What breaks your heart and what are you going to do about it?