The Lord is teaching me a lot about what it looks like to truly see his people.
A few weeks back, while we were still in Jaco, Costa Rica, my team and I had the opportunity to do night evangelism. The city of Jaco completely changes after dark. It is a place crowded with darkness; it is common to see prostitutes walking the streets and drug dealers asking you to buy from them. So as we entered the city for these nights of evangelism, we walked the streets, asking the Lord where he wanted us, and prayed against the spiritual warfare that filled Jaco.
One night before evangelism I sat with the Father and asked him to truly break my heart for what breaks his. I realized how bold of a prayer this was, but I wanted it. I wanted my heart to be broken over the hurt and brokenness that I saw. I wanted my heart to be completely wrecked for the Father’s children that do not know the love that he has for them. And wow, did He do just that.
One specific night, we passed a man. He was deaf and mute, therefore our communication with him was limited. As we approached him, I was nervous. I didn’t know how I was going to convey the love of the Father to a man I couldn’t talk to. My team and I were confused as to what to say. But we stayed anyways. We stood for a solid two minutes, just looking him in the eyes and saying nothing. There were people passing, looking at my team and I with confused looks. I mean, if you think about it, we probably looked crazy! But we saw him. We didn’t walk past him because of the communication barrier, we didn’t keep talking trying to get him to understand; we just saw him.
Throughout my time in Jaco, God completely broke me. I sat on a bench one night during ministry, and just cried. I was broken over what I saw and wanted everyone to realize the fullness of God’s abundant mercy and grace. I sat questioning how was what I was doing making a difference. But God continues to remind me that simply looking people in the eyes and acknowledging their existence as a human being holds so much power. Seeing the people who are overlooked and taking the time to show them God’s love is sometimes what kingdom looks like.
Think about it: How often do we pass people in our own towns, during our every day life, and just ignore them? How often do we take the time to actually slow down and just see someone for the beautiful child of God that they are?
Just one example of Jesus making people feel seen and known is his interaction with the woman at the well. Jesus took the time to acknowledge her existence, and offered her Living Water. John 4:9 says, “The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.” Jesus didn’t care about social standards. He saw people for who they truly were– children of the One True King.
My time in Jaco taught me a lot– but I think more than anything, it taught me how to slow down and see people. God broke my heart for what breaks his. And as hard as it is to pray that prayer, I encourage everyone to ask the Lord to show them what hurts him.
So, let’s love people. Let’s see people. And most of all, let’s show people how immensely greater God loves and sees them.
