The Birth of Compassion

I opened an e-mail and began reading about Rehema. The tears flowed down my face as I focused on her birth date. She was born the same day as I was. I knew at that moment God had divinely chosen this woman for me to support financially through a sponsorship. It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be, I thought. But still, I wanted a confirmation to know for sure.

I contacted Lisa, the sponsorship coordinator, and left a voice mail message. “Did you know that Rehema had the same birthday as mine?”

“No I did not know that was your birthday!!!! Yes, God wanted you to sponsor her. I am sure,” Lisa wrote to me in an e-mail.

I wept as I celebrated this milestone in my life, and thanked God for matching me with a woman who shares my birthday as a sign of His sovereign power. This is truly a celebratory week for me. Rehema is a house mother at the Hands of Love Orphanage in Uganda, East Africa. She’s the mother of five children, and has been caring for orphans for two years. She’s a dedicated volunteer that works up to fifteen hours each day for no money.

I had signed up to be a staff sponsor through Hands of Love USA, a non-profit organization that helps fund two orphanages in Kampala, Uganda. I attended a Hands of Love event in 2011 and began sponsoring one of the children back then.

My heart is drawn toward helping the poor and the orphaned children more than any other cause. God placed these desires in my heart many years ago when I didn’t have the means to help meet the needs of orphans. I share this story not to boast about myself, but to bring honor to Christ and share of His ability to turn our pain into a life of purpose.

I remember lying awake at night years ago praying and asking God to redeem my broken life. My heart was filled with questions for God during those painful times for our family. Why has my husband been laid off from work four times? Why have we had three failed businesses? Why are we left in a situation where we can’t afford health insurance? Why am I battling chronic stomach illness?

In those quiet moments of desperate prayer, I heard the still, small voice of the Lord saying, “These hardships are preparing you for the work I have for you to do.” It was then that I learned that our greatest need as humans is the need to give. We were created to give, and when we have little to give it hurts deeply.

In those moments of experiencing a true lack of resources, I shifted my focus off of myself and would think of the children in Africa who don’t even have clean water to drink, a roof over their head, or clothes to wear. Thinking of the ones with much greater pain lessened my own suffering.

Many times, in my spirit, I heard God confirming His will for me as He spoke so softly. “I’m preparing you for your destiny, a life of giving to those in Africa—to those who are in much greater need than you’ll ever be.” His words always brought me comfort because I knew my struggles were not in vain.

My dream of helping African people came to fruition after my husband earned a college degree and began working in the medical diagnostics field in the summer of 2010. We began working hard to pay off the mountain of credit card debt we had attained during the years of famine. We are now 100% out of debt other than our house payment. We are free to fight the injustices of the world.

Every time I look at the photo of Rehema I get weepy because I know the intense joy she is experiencing in knowing Christ has provided for her needs. I envision meeting her some day. I can only imagine the joy and tears we both will experience as we rejoice together over what Christ has done.

I celebrate the fact that I was once impoverished and in lack. It was during those times of need that I drew nearer to the heart of Christ. My suffering allowed me to feel His heartbeat and know the yearnings of His soul.

It’s easy to question the goodness of God when we are suffering—especially when there are tragedies like the tornado that recently devastated families in Moore, Oklahoma. Nobody can fully understand these kinds of disasters.

For me, I choose to believe that God is good no matter what happens on this earth. Christ loves us deeper than our hearts and minds can comprehend (Ephesians 3:17-19).

God is love (1 John 4:8). God is light (John 8:22). God desires to give us good things (Matthew 7:11).

There is a fierce battle going on at all times in the spirit world. The dark side wants us to be tormented eternally. The heavenly realm wants us to live in harmony with God, and to walk in oneness with Him eternally.

When bad things happen, we can cling to God, or we can run from Him and live in darkness. It’s when we’re surrendered to Christ that we see how He takes the most devastating circumstances, turns them around, and uses them for good in our lives.

He uses our pain and our losses to birth the compassion of Christ in our hearts. It’s in our suffering that we begin to take on the very nature of Christ, and love others like He loves us.

I have a compassionate heart now that I could’ve never attained without going through what I did. True compassion is birthed out of getting a glimpse of what others have experienced. So if it takes suffering to grow closer to the heart of Christ, I welcome it and embrace it.

As I was finishing typing this story, I felt the Lord nudging me to look up the meaning of the name, Rehema. I smiled and got teary, but I wasn’t surprised at all when I saw on Google that her name means, “Empathy; Compassion.”

God did it again—He confirmed to me that He knew all along where He was leading me to when I was suffering.

“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.” 1 Peter 4: 12-13 (The Message)