Singing Rodents, Christmas Eve, and God

I took my son to see a movie involving singing furry rodents this Christmas Eve. Before all of the familiarities of Christmas Eve and the Holiday season were about to happen, my son and I took a break to watch the Chipmunk movie. I received a call in the middle of the movie, and I let it go to voicemail. It was a good friend who was calling, so I checked the voicemail quickly just to be sure everything was ok.

Everything was not ok.

My friend had called with some sad news, and with some pleas for urgent prayer and hope for their loved one who had become ill suddenly. Hospice was going to be called in, and the person asked that I pray for them and that God's will would be done in this situation.

I wanted to get up and call immediately, but my son was really enjoying the movie, and he had talked about it literally for a month. I prayed that nothing serious would happen at least until I got out with my son, so I could call and console my friend. Thankfully nothing happened, and I was able to pray over the phone for my friend and their situation.

The lesson here is ministry never stops. People never stop hurting or having problems. The question remains is how much of our lives are we willing to give up to be able to walk with someone if but for a moment.

I feel like my choice to "remain" or abide, if you will, with my son shows the struggle we all face in ministering to those around us. It's living life for God and being available for His purposes that teach us all to be more aware of needs around us.

Aware of Suffering

In recent days God has made me ever so aware of suffering around me. Whether it's in my own life or in the lives of my friends, acquaintances, or people I just meet on the street, God is revealing to me a greater picture of life that I'm so open to right now.

Walking through church, saying hi to new and old faces, elicited deep responses. The friendly and meaningful "hi" doesn't always get a deep response. I'm always eager to listen to people's stories, but this seemed different. Many who opened up after the casual passing "hi" gave me a moment of pause. They simply gushed their story to me. It doesn't always happen, but then again, these times are uncommon also. Lives were broken, painful stories of broken families, struggles with grief over the loss of loved ones, struggles with strongholds, the stories didn't seem to stop.

Taking kids to feed the homeless, collecting bags of groceries for the needy, listening to a friend who deeply hurts. Seeing prayer boards posted for the lives of the young seemingly snatched from this world too soon...The stories haven't stopped. Our lives never do. The struggles we face never do. The struggles and suffering people go through doesn't stop.

When this pattern continued throughout the week I knew God was speaking to me something new in the sense of a lesson or truth I needed to learn.

The lesson I'm learning so far...never stop caring. No matter your situation, caring for others, taking time to notice and appreciate the person. Stopping, gazing intently and compassionately into their eyes to see their loss or struggle...that's what I'm learning.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 2 Corinthians 1:3-5