He had compassion on them.
The beginning of this year was the heaviest time period I have ever been through. (Enough time has past now to talk about it.) It wasn't like I was suicidal, but I would end class 7 minutes early because I forgot how to breath. Or I would walk down the corridor and think about my next breath, feeling like it would be easier to just lay down on the floor and stop breathing. It is weird to think back at it. And the worst thing was when people told me "God is with you". Like they were mocking me. What difference did it make that he was with me when he couldn't take away my pain? When he couldn't give me a glimpse of a better future? The only thing that held me up was having a class to teach.
The beginning of the change was a devotion I read with the word: And he had compassion on them. (Matt 9:36; 14:14 among others) Jesus had compassion on people. He has. And that's what motivates him to act on behalf of people.
Lately I have been thinking about this. What drives Christian ministries? Is it our motive to build the church? Start new churches? Start a new ministry? Realize ourselves? Have our name on something so that people can applaud our efforts to improve the world?
Or is it our compassion for a hurting world that motivates.
What do we know about the people we say we want to help? Do we know their stories? Have we seen a glimpse of their pain? Are we interested in them?
He had compassion on them, and he healed them.