I was listening to a song by Keith Urban, “Tonight I Wanna Cry.” In the song it describes someone lonely missing someone else who is gone. I started thinking about the people who are crying tonight. These people might be the forgotten people, the people we pass on the street who seemingly do not exist in our world. These are the people we see in the store but never acknowledge. Often, we are caught up in our own little worlds. It is a small world after all. I wonder how many people we ignore who are screaming on the inside? Here I am! Please ask me how I am doing! Please acknowledge I exist! Please see my hurt!

How many times do we forget to stop and notice those around us? How many times are we in the checkout line scoffing at the woman in front of us taking so long? We don’t see her children pulling at her. We don’t know how much sleep she has had. We don’t know what its like to pay her bills.

I pray that God forgives when we forget to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  I pray that God opens our eyes and shows us how to bless those around us. God please help us to remember that it is better to give than to receive.

We need to remember that everyone is not always festive this time of year. Perhaps Christmas marks a year since they lost someone very close to them. Perhaps the holidays only remind them of the loss and the pain. Perhaps someone has just been let go from work. We know so many people are hurting and out of work.  What kind of Christmas will their children have? Think about children whose parents are in prison. These children have done nothing wrong, yet they are paying for the sins of their parents. I pray that we reach out and do what we can to bless those around us. Let us not forget the families of our military, who valiantly serve this great nation.

Lord when I think of what is going on in our nation, I want to cry tonight. When I think about the people who do not know you Lord, I want to cry tonight. When I consider an eternity in Hell for those people, I want to cry tonight. When I think of children going to bed hungry tonight, through no fault of their own, I want to cry tonight. When I think of America as a divided nation in need of healing, I want to cry tonight. When I consider an innocent Jesus on the cross paying the price for a sinner like me, I want to cry tonight. Thank you Jesus for opening our eyes.

There is a story I heard about a grandfather and his grandson walking along a beach littered with starfish. The grandfather would reach down and throw one back into the ocean. The grandson asked his grandfather why he was throwing a few starfish back into the ocean, when there were so many starfish he could not save. The grandfather replied that it meant everything to the starfish he did throw back.

The Bible tells us that our Father in heaven collects our tears in a bottle. It is interesting that we have the ability to cry and even more amazing that our Father thinks enough of our tears to collect them. You cannot solve every problem in this world, but you can solve some of them. Do not become paralyzed by the enormity of the problems of this world, help the starfish you can. Become an ambassador for Jesus to someone today.

Thank you.