Funnel of Love by Lisa Burkhardt Worley
He stood in front of the class weeping uncontrollably. Our “Christ and Culture” professor had prayed that he would have a heart like God’s for His people—and he received it.
We had just been listening to excerpts from the songs of Les Miserables and Fantine’s rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” triggered the emotion. In Victor Hugo’s classic story, Fantine resorted to a life of prostitution to help care for her daughter, Cosette. It reminded our professor of all the women in Los Angeles who had resorted to prostitution to survive. His heart broke for them.
I was also crying during the song because Fantine brought back memories of my mother, also broken, but my mom, a brilliant pianist and harpist, was never able to rise above the heartache she experienced after the sudden death of my father. She struggled with mental illness the rest of her life. This is why I want to help women like her by sharing God’s hope and love.
1 John 4:1-7 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (NIV).
We can’t fathom how great God’s love is for us. It is beyond comprehension and sometimes because of hardships, we doubt His love. We shouldn’t. We live in an imperfect world and setbacks will come. I believe God is weeping with us when we experience emotional pain and disappointment.
I have also asked God to break my heart for what breaks His and I imagine this large body of love funneling down to me, providing what I can handle to love the brothers and sisters He places in my realm of influence. We should all desire to see people through the eyes of love as God sees them, no matter how difficult they may seem. When someone disappoints us, we need to look at why they disappointed us and love them anyway. We’re even supposed to love the people who are not in our corner. Jesus said, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44).
Who should you weep for today? Who needs to feel God’s “funnel of love” through you? Will you ask God to break your heart for His people—then ask how you can help them?
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8, NIV).