For part of this week, all of our young people are away on various purposeful missions in life, one helping his grandfather, one flying planes for a living, and one at a spiritual retreat, and thus God allowed me some time for quiet introspection and prayer as I looked over some old photos.
[This post is super old but I keep it on the blog as a reminder of these years as a young mom. Maybe it will help you better process the sad things we are experiencing culturally, too.]
My heart was full of love and thankfulness for the children He had blessed us with.
Then for a quick trip to the local Walmart…all by myself.
I am assuming we have all heard about or seen some very unusual scenes (which many laugh and poke fun at) reflecting the moral decline of our country. And today there were several very disturbing instances which would make many a parent’s heart feel threatened.
I hope my face didn’t reveal the sadness that I felt.
Today the challenges we face in this pagan culture became clearer to me, and it made me wonder how our children will navigate the years ahead. Today I had to ask myself if I had prepared them adequately for being able to share the Gospel with the lost and the hurting in such a Godless and God-hating world.
At first, I had to wrestle with feelings that no Christian should entertain such as pride, fear, and judgmentalism. At first, Walmart brought out some bad thoughts.
But then I recalled:
“When [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
~Matthew 9: 36-38
Therefore pray…
Walmart Lessons
And so my heart did a 180° turn (from condemnation to compassion) right there in the condiment aisle of Walmart, and so I prayed and cried! As I slowly pushed my cart toward the checkout, I cried out to our heavenly Father that we and ALL our children (yours and mine) would be filled with His great love and compassion for this dying world and see our own depravity in light of the risen Savior. We all nailed Jesus to the cross.
It would be SO easy to turn my back to the terrible things that are happening in our culture, and conveniently forget that people need the Lord. It would be wrong to go home, overlook my own sin (thinking I am somehow better than someone else), and perpetuate this hypocrisy to my own family.
“By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth”
~Keith and Kristyn Getty
I pray that our children won’t become Pharisees, quick to judge and condemn the outward appearance.
I pray that our children will not be naive or cynical or fearful regarding the future of our world, but rather seek to be an active part of the harvest, knowing God has commanded us to do this.
I pray that our children would hunger and thirst for righteousness and pray for the hearts and minds of all mankind to see and respond to the truth and love of Jesus! John 3:16.
I want them to know the worth of men made in the image of God and to know that man, contrary to the excellent specimen he could have been, is fallen and sin-sick. Consequently, the most excellent examples of true compassion will not always be well received. It’s a fact that sinful men frequently do not act or react well. Those on whom Jesus had compassion crucified Him. Why should we expect anything less?
Teaching a little anatomy from the viewpoint of a nurse. I didn’t realize that they were also learning compassion as I told them about the patient’s feelings. It is so neat how the Lord can use every little thing to prepare and soften their hearts.
Our Response is to Pray and Teach:
Pray intentionally as you teach your little ones and ask for grace and the very words of the Holy Spirit to communicate this heart of God’s love and compassion as you go about your day.
I believe spending time with one or two elderly neighbors is also a great way to develop compassion within our children’s hearts. We did a lot with widows and had many wonderful times and lessons.
We also need to teach our children to resist being drawn to this kind of behavior, to see evil for what it is as well as to have compassion for those who are under the influence of evil. You have heard the saying, ‘to hate the sin, but not the sinner’.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ~Matthew 22: 36-40
For our sons, teach them that every girl is a kind of sister to be protected and defended and that that is what real men of God do. In your home, encourage them through interactions with you and their sisters. Help them to understand that girls (and men) who would flaunt themselves and act in immodest and immoral ways have bought into a lie. Satan is a lair, and we live in a spiritual world where there are real demonic forces who are out to destroy any knowledge of Christ.
Especially because of this growing exhibitionism which we see at Walmart and other places, teach your young children, boy and girls, how to take every thought captive as they see those who would set themselves up against God…for immoral and debasing actions are against God!
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” ~2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Teach them that everything that doesn’t agree with the Word of God is a lie and that they gain victory by being “transformed by the renewing of your mind”. This refers to a complete change of nature that occurs when our minds come into agreement with the truth of God’s Word. Romans 12:2.
We must be transformed into the image of Christ if we are to represent God as his ambassadors in a hurting world. As our minds are renewed, God’s kingdom is extended through agreement with his word, and His purposes on earth are realized.
This is an urgent need; we have such a small window of time as parents.
We must earnestly and continually pray for all the people –including those hurting souls in line with us at Walmart.
“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” ~Jeremiah 32:27
“If you treat everyone as though they are hurting, you’ll be treating the majority of people in the proper manner.” ~Zig Ziglar
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Thanks for reading!
Janet says
Amen, dear sister. I pray my children (and I) will have the eyes and hearts of Jesus to others.
Sarah says
Good reminder today. I have a 3 year old boy who can be quite the challenge for me at times. I need to be more proactive and less reactive toward him so I can better help form his little heart. Thanks for your heart for a Godly generation. 🙂
Jacqueline says
I am praying for all you young Moms, Sarah! This is prime time!!! Stand firm in the truth, dearie 🙂
Charlotte Moore says
AMEN!!! Oh but for the GRACE of GOD go there I. How BLESSED we are to know what a life in CHRIST is.
BLESSINGS!!!
Jacqueline says
Charlotte,
It really shook me up…I wrestled with what I saw at that moment, but after the Lord brought that scripture to mind, it helped immensely. When I remembered my sin, I was able to see clearly the command to love and why! We love Him because He first loved us!! And ‘Praise God’, for the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts through applying the Word to the situation.
Love you in Jesus,
J
Jenny says
I must ask, what did you do about it? maybe I missed it, but I see you prayed for your children, but sister did you reach out to the lost? I must know what you did?
Jacqueline says
Hi, Jenny,
I smiled at quite a lot of people and prayed for everyone. Also, as a woman it would have been very inappropriate of me to go up to the men I am thinking of. Biggest problem was that I had 15 minutes in which to get in and out and head back home to meet my husband 🙂 I understand your question, though 🙂
Jen Stults says
I really appreciate your gracious response to a disturbing trip to Walmart. I’ve seen various facebook posts, etc. making fun of the “types” of people that can be found there, but very little compassion. It is so easy to develop that “holier-than-thou” complex, but so damaging to our witness. Thanks for sharing Jesus’ heart! 🙂
Laurel@Let's Go on a Picnic! says
You know, I used to look at those sites. Then I realized how wrong they are. These people are broken and struggling. They need our love, not our hate.
Tiffanie of Truly Skrumptious says
Wonderful reminder of the important role we have to reach out to the lost and pray for them, instead of getting frustrated or irritated by the sad state of our culture! Thank you Jacqueline!
Susan at EducatingToday.com says
This is such a good article and I love your heart and compassion for others. May we remember that Jesus is our plumb-line and that we need to keep our eyes on Him as He teaches us how to reach others for His kingdom.
Falen says
Yessss! Amen to every syllable!
Serenity de Clare says
I’m sorry, did I miss reading it, but what did you see at Walmart???
Jacqueline says
Serenity, Here is what I wrote: ‘I can’t show you photos (nor did I want to take any) for that would be shameful.’ The Word says: For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret…’ It truly wasn’t in secret, but I should not describe it.
John says
In relation to Serenity’s question, or Kate’s comment, I saw the WalMart picture you have just after you mentioned that you saw bad things while there. The picture I saw looked like it had some men, maybe Boy Scouts (the boys selling their scout popcorn?) and wondered what was wrong with that. If I had stopped there I would wonder if you felt a strong antagonism to the Boy Scouts. But I looked harder at the picture and couldn’t verify any of the boys in scout uniform. That left me wondering if those were policemen, which could indicate something negative going on.
My point there is that by putting the picture in there it made me assume it was of some highly negative thing, then when I did look at it it left me confused, and all told it seemed to distract from what you were wanting to say.
On the other hand, your comments reminded me of Matt 18. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that passage used in relation to excommunication. But I think Jesus was not teaching (more than peripherally) on excommunication. He was explaining that when people in the church do wrong, and won’t listen to a Spirit led church trying to help them we are to treat them as heathen. And how does He want us to treat the heathen? As in need of salvation! So He was saying we were to do our primary job as Christians, witnessing and praying for those who are not saved so that their salvation can lead to His glory. So your comments about the Lord’s compassion for the lost reminded me of the correct understanding of Matthew 18.
It also reminded me of someone I was with once. We were driving somewhere and we heard a loud siren nearbye. One of the young ones whimpered, and the mother reminded the kids to pray for the people that ambulance was going for. When I commented, she said she always tried to pray for the people the siren was for, as well as the responders, and would have the kids pray. So much better than my response – hardly noticing more than enough to get out of the way! Your comments were much like that woman’s.
So even if I did get distracted for a bit, thank you.
Jacqueline says
You are welcome, John! I admit, I am not the best writer, but I’m slowly learning…thanks for sharing your thoughts and heart!
God’s blessings on you and yours 🙂
Amy Jung says
I too appreciate the gracious response to what you saw. Too often I hear of people making fun of others at Wal-Mart. You call us to pray. I appreciate the wisdom you share here!
Toni says
This post reminded me that every trip to the store these days causes a “sigh and cry over the abominations done in the city.” My eyes have seen a lot more than I’d ever dreamed would transpire in my generation. And you are absolutely right, we must have a heart full of pity and pray for them. May the Lord return quickly is my prayer.
deb says
Yesterday my husband and I took our 6 year old to MacDonalds, located in Wal-mart, for a strawberry sundae. I commented to hubby when we got home…”ya know, being at Wal-mart” makes you feel as though you’ve been in another world”. Something I just don’t think I can take much more of. When it comes down to it, makes me want to just weep. Some days I feel strong and I smile, pray, and attempt to use the time as a teaching tool, but for the most part I am just in dismay. May the Lord strengthen the Christian home to stand strong in these days. Thank you for your encouragement to that end.
deb h
Malinda says
About a year ago, I told my husband that I was starting to dread going to Walmart and when I did, I felt such a heavy heart (spiritual oppression?) and felt like crying every. single. time. My daughters were looked at lustfully by men (they are beautiful young ladies) and my son (who’s 12) was constantly having to re-direct his eyes. My other little one witnessed parents screaming at their children or vice versa.
Since I do most of my shopping at Vitamin Cottage/Natural grocers, I hadn’t been at Walmart for a long time- my husband doing little runs to here and there for me. Yesterday, I went and felt almost ill by all the hurting and uninhibited dress and behavior of people I saw around me. I never want to ever forget how my life would be without Christ, but I struggle to enter this store and especially with my children. Is this store a reflection of our culture….if so, I grieve for what my lie ahead for my children and grandchildren.
Lisa says
So true! I recently read and posted about the book “The Harbinger.” Our country is definitely facing God’s judgment. Thanks for the reminder to be compassionate and share the gospel with the lost.
Kate Pace says
What you wrote was a little confusing to me . It left me wondering if you were asking the reader to resort to all kinds of thought/scenarios,needlessly. Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the way you reminded all of us on how to respond to” these things”?? . I don’t think saying in a general way what you were seeing would have been a breach in any way of the scripture you cited, since we do not know any of those people personally. In fact, we need to be reminded of what the Scriptures says about sin. That is important when we teach our children and others about His wonderful grace towards us . For instance, we are told of David’s sin with Bathsheba in the Bible ,but we are not told all the sorted details of how that sin was was acted out . That would be speaking of what the disobedient do in secret. .It could just be me ,but I felt I was given part of a story.
Judith at WholeHearted Home says
Thank you so much Jacqueline for this post today. I appreciated your response. It is so easy to walk out in disgust but more important to feel and show compassion, like you said.
Katie@simplefoody says
Jacqueline, it’s post like this that make me want to ((HUG)) you! Such encouragement, I love your heart. You say what needs and ought to be said with gentleness and don’t water it down. May God continue to bless you and your family.
Rachel says
Greetings! I have a question for you but am unable to locate your contact info. If you have a moment to spare, could you send me an email?! Thank you!
Janie says
Touched my heart,sister!Good point.Thanks for the mind check
Audrey says
Beautiful post…full of truth and wisdom. Thanks for sharing!
Alyssa W says
Great post, thank you!! I love the pictures of the children when they were little! <3