Encouragement

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What Does It Take?

What does it take to lead a person to Christ?

What difficulties must he go through?

What heart-wrenching grief must take place in her life to break her heart so that God can heal it?

Tabitha was a very nice Christian lady who believed in Jesus with all her heart. She practiced pure and undefiled religion, according to James chapter 1:27, by sewing clothes for widows. I imagine she took every opportunity she could find to share her faith with them. But for a long time, so it would seem, nobody noticed.

They probably wondered why, as skilled as she was in her work, she wasn’t serving before kings as opposed to obscure women. Why sew clothes for poor people when she could open up her own line of outfits and make millions of dollars? Why live in the slums among the down-and-out when she could be sitting in a mansion, eating the best of food, and signing autographs all day? Why not design the fashions and let someone else do the work? Yet out of all the things Tabitha could be doing, she chose to dedicate her life to helping those who could not pay her back. Now why would she choose to do that when she had both the talent and the potential to really go places?

Blessed is the he (or she) that considers the poor (Psalm 41:1, KJV).

I can picture Tabitha smiling at such questions and saying something like, “But I am serving a king. I’m serving the greatest king there ever was. His name is Jesus! He gives me more than enough fabric to supply every need, with plenty to spare. I give because He first gave His life for me, dying on a cross for my sin. What’s more, He rose from the dead and He lives forever more! Because He rose from the dead, I too will rise one day. I’ll rise and go to heaven, where He has prepared a marvelous mansion just for me! Wouldn’t you like to get to know my Jesus, so that you can go there too?”

I see the women nod their heads and say, “That’s great for you. We’re really glad you have such a strong faith. We’ve met a lot of people who call themselves Christians but are really hypocrites. At least you live what you believe.” But behind such words lies the unspoken message, “It’s fine for you, but not for me.” I see them quietly accept the garments she has made for them and shuffle away, one by one, impressed by her good works but not convinced that Jesus really is who she says he is.

Blessed is she that considers the poor. The Lord will deliver her in time of trouble.

I see Tabitha sigh, pick up her needle, and begin another masterpiece. She has not yet seen any real fruit from the words of faith that she has sown into the hearts and lives of the widows. And yet she knows that God’s Word, like the rain and snow that fall from heaven, will accomplish the purpose for which it has been sent (Isaiah 55:10,11). For faith starts out as a mustard seed. It is small, like the eye of a needle, but the thread weaves its way through the fabric time and time again until finally all the pieces fit together into a perfect garment. The final product is a beautiful gown, without spot or wrinkle.

But it takes more than words to create a garment like that. It also takes hard work. It takes blood, sweat, and tears.

What would it take to lead the widows to Christ?

It wouldn’t be enough just to sew a few clothes.

It wouldn’t be enough just to tell them that Jesus loved them.

It would take more than that. Much more than that.

It would take a burden for souls, a determination to lay down one’s own life in travailing prayer, and a resolve to do whatever it takes to reach the lost.

It would take death. A complete death to self.

Blessed is she that considers the poor. . . The Lord will preserve her, and keep her alive. . .

Was it the burden for her unsaved friends that caused Dorcas to become deathly ill? Was that what killed her?

Who really knows?

We do know that Tabitha’s death caused a great shaking within the women’s internal washing machines. As those washing machines shook, a number of laundry lists floated to the surface, detailing everything Tabitha had ever told them about Jesus and about church. And somewhere along the line upon which they had hung their clothes out to dry (their garments were soaked with tears, and there wasn‘t a dry eye among them), the apostle Peter’s name popped up. He was the traveling preacher that Tabitha listened to whenever she got the chance.

It couldn’t hurt to give him a call now, could it?

They sent a message asking Peter to come right away. Why they called for him the Bible doesn’t say. Whether or not they believed he could work a miracle, we don’t know. Maybe they were just looking for someone to speak at Tabitha’s funeral. All we know is that Peter came.

Blessed is she that considers the poor. . . The Lord will strengthen her upon the bed of languishing. You will make all her bed in her sickness. . .

Imagine the scene that Peter walked into, as one sad, tear-stained face after another met his gaze. See Salome sitting off in a corner, looking so sorrowful that she won’t even look up as Peter enters the room. Look at Patricia, on the floor, bawling so hard that she can’t even talk. There’s a group of women in the middle of the room, marveling at the beautiful cross-stitch that is Tabitha’s trademark. Each woman holds in her hand a piece of clothing that Tabitha has sown. They show the clothes to Peter and tell him all about the kind seamstress that made them. He finds their hearts completely broken and ready to receive whatever message he has to share with them.

They show him the room where Tabitha’s body lies, cold and unmoving. Then they leave him alone, with the corpse, to pay his respects. Or for whatever reason, they leave him alone.

Imagine their shock when Peter comes back into the room with Tabitha, and presents her to them alive!

See every word and deed that Tabitha sowed in faith suddenly bear fruit.

Now it springs forth. Do you not know it? (Isaiah 43:19)

At last the women knew. At last they understood. The reality of His death and resurrection suddenly became real to them. As a result, all the widows came to faith in Jesus Christ. As did the entire town.

And all because a simple seamstress was willing to lay down her life to follow Jesus.

This story is based on Acts 9:36-43

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