Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten, and seeing them he cried, "Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?" God said, "I did do something." |
I can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and I can tell from the tone when something is important in a corrective way for me to learn. This not-too-subtle message above illustrates one lesson I will never forget. |
One day as I came out of the grocery store, I saw one of my former teachers from high school. I have been out of high school now for over 35 years, so I have not talked to this lady in a long, long time. But, I have seen her from time to time in the last 10 years that I have lived here again. She was my English teacher and also taught art class. I always admired her intelligence and creativity. The one thing I have always remembered about her though was that she always had the saddest face, her whole demeanor was just so forlorn, always. I do not remember ever seeing her smile. After I was out of high school and gone from my home town, I heard from my mom that this lady's husband had been cheating on her for years and she had finally divorced him. I was old enough by then to understand that maybe that's why she had always looked so sad. She started attending church after that, but never became close with any of the other members, just there; the few times I saw her through the years when I attended that church with my mom, this lady still had the greatest sadness enveloping her. I didn't talk to her, thinking she probably wouldn't remember me from her class, etc., never took a moment to tell her how much I appreciated her teaching and her creative abilities, never bothered to let her know how happy I was to see her. Years went by, and every time I saw her it struck me again how sad she looked. On this beautiful afternoon when I came out of the grocery store, there she was making her way slowly, forlornly across the parking lot in the general direction of my car. I was in a radiant mood that afternoon, feeling closer to God than normal and just bubbling over with love for my fellow man as He says I am to do. Instantly when I spied this sad face again, I blurted out to God, "Jesus, that poor woman needs a friend, she needs something, oh, Lord, she always looks so sad, you've got to help her!" So loud and so clear that I could not miss it, so powerful that I will never forget it, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say to me, "You're right there, you do it!" I was so stunned by the force of the message, it was as if I had been struck by lightning. In a spiritual sense, I had been! I stood stalk still right where I was, letting the power of that message permeate every pore of my being. Absolute understanding flowed through me: Yes, I am to pray fervently, mightlily, unceasingly; but, I am not to ask God to do what He has already told me to do. I am to willingly, at every opportunity do what I can when I see a need. I am to do what He would do if He were here, because, in fact, He is here abiding in me. By the time I recovered myself, the lady was in her car already driving away. I missed that opportunity, but I did not miss the meaning of that very great lesson. In the intervening two years, I have had many occasions to think about someone or about a situation and think automatically, "I need to pray." And instantly, as if anew, I hear Him say, "You're right there, you do it." I am the one right here right now. What can I do when I see the crippled and the beggar and the beaten in my world today? Instead of praying, "God help them," I pray, "God help me to help them, lead me, guide me to know what to do in your place with your grace, love and compassion." |
"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit?" James 2:15,16 "Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17 "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you." Proverbs 3:27,28 |
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'What would Jesus do?' That's very big these days, but don't miss the point! The key word here is 'do', whatever it is that we think He would do, we are to do likewise. |
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