We live in a world with a lot of pain and a lot of needs. We pray for the people who experience these hardships, as we should. When we pray, do we listen to what the Spirit may say to us about what we should do when we’re done praying, maybe about sometimes doing more than praying? I think, too often, we don’t and, as a result, we miss being used of God to bless others and being blessed by God in the process.
A couple of months ago, my wife and I went to a restaurant, to eat breakfast. The server was very kind and friendly and we struck up a conversation with her. As we talked, she mentioned a few hardships she was going through. The conversation briefly turned to family and she basically said “I have no family here, I have, well, I have no one”. My wife asked if we could pray with her, which we did. I prayed out loud and, when I was finished, the Spirit spoke to my heart and, very clearly, said “You are her family now”. That was something I had never experienced before.
You need to understand something. This was not simply an emotional response to the things she told us. Through this ministry God has blessed us with, we have contact with and minister to all kinds of people in many ways. As part of that, we sometimes minister to those in need. For example, we have a local soup kitchen that has a service before most meals and God has blessed me with the opportunity to sometimes preach at those services. Sometimes, some of those at the service will come up to Lara and I and talk to us about their situations. We are blessed to be able to offer some counsel and Scriptural guidance to these people and some of them are in far worse circumstances than hers. And yet, concerning any of them, God has never once said to us “they are your family now”.
We left her a generous tip. After we left, I prayed for her and basically said “Lord please help her”. I did not expect the answer. He said “You help her”. I was reminded of when Jesus fed the multitude.
Mark 6
35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.
36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.”
37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”
In this story, the disciples recognized the need of the people and they told Jesus to send the people away to go meet that need for themselves. They were clearly surprised by Jesus’ answer. He told them to meet the need. It is clear, in verse 37, that the disciples were somewhat incredulous about this but, in the rest of the story, going on down through verse 44, we can see that Jesus gave them the power to meet the people’s need for food and to meet their own need as well.
James 2
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
I could simply have given this woman a copy of one of my books and a generous tip and basically said “Hope that helps you”. But it would not have helped her, at least not nearly enough. She was a responsible person, who had fallen on some hard times, which were not of her own making, and she needed some help. Honestly, even if the problems had been of her own making, which of us hasn’t made a mess of our life, to one degree or another, at one time or another? I have heard it said that it can be hard to hear the Gospel over the growling in your own stomach. That is very true and it can also be true of lesser needs and, not just for spreading the Gospel, but also teaching a believer to more closely walk with Christ. It can be very hard to pay attention to your spiritual needs when your physical needs are not being met.
James 1
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
This woman was not a widow but she was a single mother. She was not an orphan but she had no family support. She, in essence, is who James was describing. In this Scripture, we are not commanded to help people like her but we are told that this is the most pure form of religion, in essence, one of the purest ways of demonstrating God’s love, to help someone who cannot help themselves and who cannot help us in return.
While this may not be a direct command, as it is sometimes portrayed to be, it is very clear how God feels about showing His love by helping those less fortunate.
Matthew 25
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
You may say “I can’t afford to help”. I understand. That smart phone or tablet you’re reading this on, how much did that cost? Did the one before it stop working or did you just want a new one? How much do some of the other little luxuries in your life cost? How might you be able to help if you were willing to forego a little of that? Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we have to spend everything we have to help the less fortunate. We are commanded to provide for our own household and we cannot do that if we spend everything we make on others. I am also not saying that there is anything wrong with accumulating some wealth for ourselves. Solomon was the wealthiest man to ever live and He was given that wealth by God, something God would not have done, if the wealth, in itself, was sinful. However, I do think sometimes we are a little too quick to think we can’t help and a little too slow to even listen to see if the Spirit is telling us to.
One other thing. I said that the Spirit said “You are her family now”. And so we are and she is ours. He pronounced it and, as He always does, He empowered it. He reached out and touched our hearts, mine, my wife’s, and hers. We are in regular communication with her, helping her a little, yes, but also teaching her about the things of God, laughing with her, crying with her, just walking through life with her, as she is with us. I have no doubt that we are getting a bigger blessing out of the relationship than she is. God not only pronounced it and then empowered it, but He also blessed it. Of course, this can’t happen with everyone we encounter, but how blessed we were, when God reached out and said “You help her” and we said “Yes Lord”.
This can’t happen with everyone you encounter either. But do try to be mindful to show Christs love and even help when you can. Be kind to your server. Leave her a big tip, or at least a respectable one. Talk to her, more importantly, listen to her. Most importantly, listen to what the Spirit may say to you about her. I’m not just talking about your server. I’m talking about the woman who checks you out at Wal-Mart, the guy who changes your oil, the woman who teaches your child, the man who picks up your trash, the person you sit next to in church. Show the love of Christ to these people. You may be the only place they ever see it. Ask God to give you a burden for them, to make your heart genuinely care about them. You may be surprised what else He does in your heart as a result.
