Give me Your heart

Usually I have a bit of road rage.

This morning as I was driving, I decided that I would pray for the crazy people I was driving beside instead of letting myself get angry at their stupid decisions (i.e. swerving in my lane, going under the speed limit, slaming on brakes, texting, etc). I prayed that God would keep everyone safe on the slick roads, keep their families safe, help them as they go about their day to be happy and loving towards the people around them and then that God would reveal Himself to them today and show them His goodness and salvation. Suddenly it hit me, I started seeing these people as God sees them. Then Brandon Heath's song "Give me your eyes" came on KSBJ on my radio in which the chorus says:

"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see "

I wasn't seeing them as people who were getting in my way by driving too slow. I wasn't seeing them as rude people who were cutting me off or speeding dangerously too fast past me. I saw them as opportunities, as friends, as family, as people in need of love. I wondered how many people that I was driving beside were believers. I thought about someone on the other side of town maybe praying the same thing. Maybe they were driving next to my boss and prayed that someone would touch his life and show my boss Christ's love. But they don't know that I work there. They don't know that there is someone that my boss works with that loves Jesus. Maybe they were just praying in faith as they were driving that God was going to listen and answer and bring someone into my boss' life.

At this point in my conversation with Jesus, I kinda had a lightbulb moment. Praying for the lives of the people surrounding me that I didn't know led me to reevaluate how I was going to interact with my peers, boss, coworkers, family, etc. See, it doesn't matter if there was a person on the other side of town that prayed for my boss. It is my responsiblity and JOY to minister to the people around me and tell them of this precious gift that I have. This precious gift of salvation and joy that overcomes every kind of suffering or circumstance.

It is good to pray for the safety of the people driving beside you. But oh how great a joy is it to pray that we would have the heart of Jesus. "Give me your love for humanity."

How differently would I respond to situations on a daily basis if I really LOVED the people that I was interacting with just as Christ loves them?

Ouch. God is always faithful and I fall so short so often.