When You Think It’s Not Enough

You know that phrase, hurting people, hurt people? I want to change it a little bit today and tell you hungry people hurt people. Have you ever been hangry, in the worst mood because you haven't eaten anything? And if you would just eat something, everything would change? What if you could change someone's day by sharing some of your bread with them? The people that you encounter, your family members, your co workers, the person in front of you in line at the grocery store, they're all hungry. And I know you're hungry too. But I believe that God sent me here today to tell you that there is bread in your hands. Look back at the scripture. I have compassion for these people. They've already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way because some of them have come a long distance. The disciples answered, but where in this remote place could we get enough food to feed them? How many loaves do you have? Jesus asked. Seven, they replied. Seven was not much. They would have needed 13 for each of them to have one. But they had seven. And so they gave their seven loaves to Jesus. You know that you don't have to give everyone a feast. You don't have to stop and pray with the waitress at lunch today. But you can smile and say thank you and give her a nice tip whether she got your order perfectly right or not. You don't have to be an annoying Christian to have compassion on the people around you. You can be kind within your own giftings and within your own personality. And I just want to say that extroverts aren't better Christians. They just like talking to people in line at Target. Sometimes kindness is listening. Not talking, listening to a story you've heard before. Listening to an opinion that you don't agree with. Sometimes compassion is just walking away. Sometimes the gift of compassion is. Is biting your tongue. Sometimes kindness is making eye contact. I'm telling you, it's way simpler than you're making it out to be. Stephen says that I am a no eye contact person in public. And it's true. I don't know why I'm in Harris Teeter. I have a job to do. I have hungry teenagers to feed. And sometimes I have my audiobook in and I'm playing Candy Crush at the checkout. Okay. Like I'm. But sometimes I do that at home too, and I'm checked out. How can you even begin to see the people in your life? How can I even begin to see the people in my life when I'm constantly staring at my phone. Sometimes compassion is simply stopping to encourage someone that you know is going through a difficult season. It's that simple. Two weeks ago on a Saturday night, I was really stressed. I had a list a mile long to take care of. And I was also trying to prepare a sermon for, you know, a lot of people. And I was trying my best just to, you know, tackle one thing at a time. And I think I did a pretty okay job not taking it out on my kids and my family. But by the time that I went to bed, my stomach was in knots. And I don't know if any of you ever go to bed and you're just praying. You're like, God, just help me not forget anything that I've committed to do. And I woke up the next morning to a text from a staff member and a friend. Her name's Daytona. And she texted me, and she said that she had woken up in the middle of the night and felt led to pray. Peace over us. And she just typed out a prayer about the peace of God having authority over me. That was bread. I woke up to bread right there on my phone because someone else stopped for a second to think about someone other than herself. You don't have to be a preacher or a Bible scholar or, you know, Mother Teresa to feed the hungry. And if you're listening to this message and you're thinking, great, now I have to add more to my list. I need to find a soup kitchen from my family to serve at. You're totally missing the point. Obviously, if the opportunity arises for you to serve at an organization like that, you should do it. But the point is having compassion is less about signing up to serve and is more about what is right in front. Who is right in front of you. Hey, thanks for watching. I hope that encouraged you today. Make sure that you, like, subscribe and hit that bell to turn on notifications so that you don't miss out on other videos just like. Like this one. And I'll see you back here next time.