Emma - Desperate for the Lost

My sister told me this story the other day that made my heart hurt. Lest I forget - this whole pool thing has made me think about how much work God has to do with me - with finances and what makes my heart hurt. The pool made my heart hurt. Ugh.

Emma is seven and she's a smart cookie but I learned something very important about the heart of a child from her.

Here's what Carrie told us:

Somehow they were discussing that someone was not allowed to have a manger scene and Emma asked why. Carrie told her that some people don't believe in God and so they get very upset when people do anything that reminds them of God. Emma began to get visibly upset and asked why they didn't believe and said, "But they won't go to heaven!" At this point she became so upset she began to cry, very inconsolably, being very aware of where people went that didn't believe in Jesus. Carrie did exactly what I would have done. She tried to calm her down by distancing her from the subject that was upsetting her.

Later, Carrie went back to her. My sister had been thinking about Emma's reaction and she sat down with her and said, "Emma, I'm sorry I told you not to get so upset about people not going to heaven. That's really how all of us should feel about people who don't know Jesus."

Maybe if all of our hearts broke for the lost like little Emma's, we would all see NOT sharing our faith as the harder of the two options. We would act past our discomfort and accept that even a rejection may bring another person that much closer to the saving work of Jesus Christ. God bless you Emma and the heart for Jesus that you have. I pray that God preserves that heart broken for Him and puts it to great work in your life and His Kingdom. Amen.