Sunday, September 3, 2017

The Giving Side

September 3, 2017

Although sometimes it takes awhile before you know if you succeeded, it usually doesn’t take much of an effort to make a difference. And while you’re waiting to find out, you can always find satisfaction in knowing you tried. The fact is, when people are hurting or scared, their souls are like starving people, desperately grasping at the smallest crumbs of encouragement. People often refrain from reaching out to those in need because they don’t know what to say or do. I tell people all the time to just reach out. The fewer words, the better off both the giver and receiver of comfort will be. The giver doesn’t have to worry about saying stupid things, and the receiver doesn’t have to endure people talking about themselves as they recall events in their own lives that they think are relevant. Just being there, offering prayer, and often sitting in silence, is the best comfort we can give. Job’s friends did pretty well when they sat in silence with him for a week. It’s when they opened their mouths that things got ugly.

Today, I had the opportunity to encourage our organist as she starts a new teaching job this week. Later, Linda and I stopped by the funeral home to pay our respects to the mother of a young woman in our congregation. This evening, I had the opportunity to talk with, and listen to, another woman going through a very difficult time. In not one of those encounters was I able to solve any problem or make any difference in the realities these women are facing. I could be completely deceiving myself, but from those difficult times when people have stepped into my life, their often silent presence made all the difference. 

It’s like the story of the little girl who was scared of the dark. One night, her fears were particularly acute, and she repeatedly called out to her father for assurance. Good Christian man that he was, he assured her that all was well because Jesus was with her. She responded that she preferred “someone with skin on.” Most of us do, and when we get to be the Jesus with skin on for someone, it is a holy moment. I am grateful for those moments I had today. How well I did is open for discussion, but I had the privilege of being on the giving side of the equation, which is a precious gift in itself, for which I give thanks tonight.



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