What do you do when you know a friend is hurting? You hurt too, don’t you? You also want to do whatever you can to ease the hurt, to help them through that difficult time. We’ve all been in that type of situation more than once yet at times it is still tough to know the right thing to do. I recall one particular occasion when I faced just such a dilemma. The answer I was given caught me blind sighted and changed both are lives.
How?
My friend had a deep heartache that she tried to hide. I knew something was wrong but was unsure what it was or how I could help. One night as we were talking, she finally opened up to me and told me that of all the struggles she faced or losses she had endured, the most hurtful one was the lost relationship between her and Jesus. She told me of how close she used to be and how she would worship and study the Bible but because of past mistakes she didn’t feel she could do either, which caused her to feel very distant. As I listened, my mind raced to find the right words to say that would comfort her and give her the answer she needed. I told her that God loved her and would always want a relationship with her but as I spoke I realized I was saying things that I hadn’t spoken of or even allowed myself to think of in quite a while. Feeling as if I were loosing this battle to help my friend, I instinctively did something I hadn’t done in a long time. I prayed! I said, “Lord, what can I do to help her be close to you again?” I immediately heard, “How can you help her be close to me when you’re not close to me?” Talk about something that gets your attention! That was truth hitting me square in the face!
Humbled
Then, in my mind’s eye, I saw a curtain being pulled back to reveal all the things that I allowed myself to participate in that was not pleasing to God. Things in my life that pulled me away from him and things that took my time and focus prohibiting me from hearing his voice were all set center stage for me to acknowledge as that curtain was raised. Like one of the final acts of a dark Elizabethan play, my life as I was living it was in plan view for me to see as God saw it. In that moment, God allowed me to feel a fraction of the sorrow he felt as he watched me pursue this life of sin, emptiness and distance from him. As tears streamed down my face, I prayed to God that he would forgive me for the way I was living and for neglecting my own relationship with him. I asked him to teach me how to draw close and stay close to him.
At that very moment, I felt a flood of warmth, love and acceptance. Although at the time I did not know the verse, I experienced the evidence of Psalm 145:18-19 that says, “The Lord is near all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them”. I knew that God had heard my prayer. All this happened in a matter of mere seconds and was unknown to my friend on the other end of the line-but I knew it! My heart was alive again and on fire! The words I struggled to find to help my friend were now being given to me by my loving Father!
I will never forget that day. The day God reached me through helping a friend. James 4:8 of the Bible says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you”. As I continued to seek out knowledge of him, I felt strengthened and secure as he revealed his promises to me. He’s still filling me with his strength by blessing me with knowledge of him. This knowledge guides me and gives council to family, friends and those whom God brings into my path. Throughout the Bible you can read of the mercy of the Lord to not hold our failures against us if we give them over to him. God is called compassion’s Father and the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor. 1:4). I lived that verse long before I knew it. He used the troubles of a friend to get my attention and bring me close to him. Then he turned it around by providing me the words needed to reach and comfort my friend.
What God Can Do
It’s amazing how God can reach the most obscure regions, the dark and hidden parts of our hearts, with something as small and seemingly insignificant as a word or two, especially when you think you’ve successfully placed all those ‘dark spots’ out of sight behind a curtain. The mercy of God is gentle enough to wrap you in love yet sharp enough to pierce your heart with the stinging truth that’s needed to change your life for the better.
I may never have fifteen minutes of fame, my name in lights or be center stage on Broadway but God gave me my ‘curtain call’-I’m so glad he did!
copyright Morning Glories 2009
Humbled
Then, in my mind’s eye, I saw a curtain being pulled back to reveal all the things that I allowed myself to participate in that was not pleasing to God. Things in my life that pulled me away from him and things that took my time and focus prohibiting me from hearing his voice were all set center stage for me to acknowledge as that curtain was raised. Like one of the final acts of a dark Elizabethan play, my life as I was living it was in plan view for me to see as God saw it. In that moment, God allowed me to feel a fraction of the sorrow he felt as he watched me pursue this life of sin, emptiness and distance from him. As tears streamed down my face, I prayed to God that he would forgive me for the way I was living and for neglecting my own relationship with him. I asked him to teach me how to draw close and stay close to him.
At that very moment, I felt a flood of warmth, love and acceptance. Although at the time I did not know the verse, I experienced the evidence of Psalm 145:18-19 that says, “The Lord is near all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them”. I knew that God had heard my prayer. All this happened in a matter of mere seconds and was unknown to my friend on the other end of the line-but I knew it! My heart was alive again and on fire! The words I struggled to find to help my friend were now being given to me by my loving Father!
I will never forget that day. The day God reached me through helping a friend. James 4:8 of the Bible says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you”. As I continued to seek out knowledge of him, I felt strengthened and secure as he revealed his promises to me. He’s still filling me with his strength by blessing me with knowledge of him. This knowledge guides me and gives council to family, friends and those whom God brings into my path. Throughout the Bible you can read of the mercy of the Lord to not hold our failures against us if we give them over to him. God is called compassion’s Father and the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor. 1:4). I lived that verse long before I knew it. He used the troubles of a friend to get my attention and bring me close to him. Then he turned it around by providing me the words needed to reach and comfort my friend.
What God Can Do
It’s amazing how God can reach the most obscure regions, the dark and hidden parts of our hearts, with something as small and seemingly insignificant as a word or two, especially when you think you’ve successfully placed all those ‘dark spots’ out of sight behind a curtain. The mercy of God is gentle enough to wrap you in love yet sharp enough to pierce your heart with the stinging truth that’s needed to change your life for the better.
I may never have fifteen minutes of fame, my name in lights or be center stage on Broadway but God gave me my ‘curtain call’-I’m so glad he did!
copyright Morning Glories 2009
