Day 13: The Stretch of Compassion

Focus Area - REACH OUT
Stretching Toward Others

Scriptures: Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV)

Reflection: Compassion stretches us beyond sympathy and into responsibility.

Expanded Focus:
After 24 years of preaching and now three years of pastoring, I have discovered that there are moments in ministry when I do not just see people, I feel them. Their pain sits heavily on my heart long after the conversation has ended. Their struggles stay with me when the meeting is over. Their needs follow me into prayer. Some would call that emotional weakness. I would argue that it is God stretching me. It is compassion doing its work within me.

Matthew says that when Jesus saw the crowds, He was moved. Not annoyed. Not overwhelmed. Not detached. He was moved. These people were worn down, scattered, confused, and leaderless. Instead of criticizing them, Jesus carried them in His heart. He turned to His disciples and did something powerful. He did not just tell them to help; He told them to pray for laborers. Real compassion always leads to responsibility.

Reaching Out is not God asking us to save the world; it is God asking us to stop walking past it. Compassion stretches us—emotionally, spiritually, and practically. It pulls us beyond what is comfortable. It draws us toward what is necessary. It calls us to care when scrolling is easier. It asks us to stay present when distancing feels safer. It urges us to speak when silence would be more convenient.

We have reached the thirteenth day of The Stretch, and God may be bringing some things to the surface. He may uncover feelings you usually push aside, grief you have learned to function around, concerns you have quietly minimized, and even people you have tried not to think about. That is not emotional weakness. That is God enlarging your heart.

Jesus is still moved when He sees the crowds. The question now is whether we will allow ourselves to be moved with Him.

Questions to Consider:

1. Whose pain has God recently placed on your heart, and how have you responded?
2. What makes it difficult for compassion to move you toward action?
3. If God made you part of the answer to your own prayers for the harvest, what would your next step be?