To The Women With Big Hearts On Mission

It feels like the worst thing ever to have a heart that feels a lot.

Particularly in high school, there were times that I would see leaders in the Church who weren’t acting in the fullness of leadership and I would cry. I could see hearts and souls that were just becoming part of the system only to leave unaffected because of laziness or lack of focus or vision.

I continued to see unfulfilled needs beyond high school, and I got frustrated. Why isn’t this person doing this thing, this thing, or this thing?!

Then I would get frustrated with myself for being so affected, for being sensitive, emotional, and too much.

No More Frustration

The proper response here isn’t blame. It’s also not frustration at yourself for daring to feel. For having your heart entangled with the wellbeing of others. That’s something we get from our Father—His heart is moved with pity for us.

So, there’s a place for this heart movement. And it can be powerful. The fact that it’s so powerful is affirmed by how attacked and distorted it can be by the enemy. He doesn’t waste his time. He goes after the big stuff, the high stakes.

I realized pretty quickly that I had a choice. I could be bitter and I could blame. Or, I could intercede, dream, and create.

In this life, you are going to see needs.

You are going to see needs and you are going to see mountains of lack.

You are going to be disappointed by leadership, by community, and by people in general. There will be crises, scandals, and wounds that come from people who should have been something, and weren’t. You will see opportunities missed, productivity traded for laziness, and maybe sometimes even a disregard for the greater good.

There will be frustration. There will even be heaviness, there will be disappointment, and maybe even tears.

And you have a choice to make.

You can choose to get so wrapped up in all of the shortcomings, being frustrated with why people aren’t doing what seems obvious. Or you can make peace with what is out of your control. You can make peace with people’s faults, even as you make peace with your own faults.

And you can choose to be unafraid to step into needs.

Be Part of the Solution

You’re created to be a solution. Start something. Develop something. There’s a reason that you’re sensitive to needs, there’s a reason that you notice needs. There’s a reason that you have passion, there’s a reason that you are sensitive to specific needs.

You were created for such a time as this.

You don’t need to wait until you have the degree, are set in your vocation, or know what you want to do in your life. Follow the needs that you see, and dream so big that it hurts. Again and again in Scripture, we see examples of the unlikely candidates being called into mission, beyond what made sense or how capable or ready they felt.

At the beginning of time, God knew everything that was going to be going on in the world when you came around. He placed you here for a reason, and the enemy doesn’t want you to know that. The enemy wants you to get stuck in bitterness and despair, declaring that nothing can be fixed or changed and clinging to blame.

You were created to bring reach places that other people have deemed unreachable.

Moving in Our Call

This isn’t a call to start some war against a greater political system. I’m not about starting a rebellion. I’m about moving in the fullness of our call. I’ve seen move how they are called to on mission. It awakens apathetic hearts to get in the game.

You are capable, and you have power and authority in Jesus. You have the power to change lives.

I think sometimes we’re afraid to move for the sake of unity. While the Lord speaks in peace and prudence, there are times that you are going to make the apathetic uncomfortable by your passion. And you can’t withhold for the sake of preserving comfort.

If you want to change the world, you’re going to have to die. You give up your “right” to be comfortable.

If you see a need, there’s nothing helpful or productive about becoming bitter towards whomever “should” have been fulfilling it all along. We cannot afford to partner with bitterness. We can’t afford to partner with blame. Acknowledge the need, yes. Maybe even be affected to the point of grieving it.

And then ask the Lord how He’s calling you to step into it, to dream into it. Or maybe how you’re called to empower someone else to bring abundance into it.

Look for the Need, and Act

If you see a need for worship, start a worship night. If you see a need for community, start investing in people and bringing them together. Let it be messy and let Him be glorified.

It’s scary to step into need when you might fall. But the bigger the risk, the bigger the victory. Really, it’s not risk at all, when you’re moving where He calls and seeking to glorify Him. We have to let go of our vision of success for His plan. We have to give up control for grace.

Let’s not shut down our hearts, sisters. Let’s be affected by needs and let’s move. The time of revival is now, and it starts with your “yes.”

To the Women with Big Hearts on Mission #BISblog //Click to tweet

Anne Marie Schlueter is studying Communications and Theology at Ave Maria University. She's passionate about worship, dreaming big, and breaking out of comfort zones, and can usually be found shoeless. You can find out more about her here.