Christian Living

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We are all icebergs. There is so much more going on inside of us than what meets the eye. In fact, we spend most of our time trying to conceal who we are and what we're going through from others. Even in the most intimate of relationships, marriage we see that husbands and wives really don't know one another.

It goes without saying that there has only been one sinless person to ever walk the face of the earth, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a result of sin being alive and well here on earth, we encounter hurting people daily as we live our lives. Pain and suffering to a greater or lesser degree is lodged in the hearts of every single person we encounter in life. We smile and do what we have to do to make it through the day, but we are all hurting in some way.

As Christians, part of our mission in life is to share God's love with the world. And part of that sharing is being open when God is leading us to minister to others. Being open to the Spirit of God has certainly been an area that I need to work on. I think that women are a little more open and "sensitive" when it comes to being led by God than men are. In my travels I find that most guys (myself included), have to be hit over the head with a brick in order to see obvious signs in others that may be reaching out for some relief from life's burdens.

Being a source for God to show His love to someone doesn’t require a counseling degree. It doesn't require someone with tons of experience nor does it require you to know the person who is reaching out. All you need to do is be open to God's leading. A rubber garden hose can't make your grass green. But the water coming through the hose can bring nourishment and refreshing to parched soil. Our responsibility is to be the pipeline for Gods healing power to flow through.

While we are extremely limited in what we know about the pain of others, God knows the hearts of all men and He knows exactly how to sooth a hurting heart. Showing the love of God is not always about knowing tons of scripture or inviting the person to your church. A simple holding of the hand, a listening ear, or supplying a shoulder to cry on can make a huge impact on a hurting heart. By your presence and your willingness to invest your time in someone in emotional need is unconsciously saying to the person, "I'm here with you, and you don't have to go through this alone".

I'd like to encourage you to be mindful to those around you. The person with the biggest smile of anyone in your office just may be the person under the heaviest load. If you know that God has moved on your heart to minister His love to someone and for whatever reason you didn't act on it, ask God for forgiveness. Then forgive yourself and move on. As long as there are people around you, you will have another opportunity to show God's love.

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