Walking with people in their time of need
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- March 26, 2018
- 1519
“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” — Helen Keller.
It is time that we get over ourselves. For some of us it is all about what we want out of life, out of people, out of our career and out of our bank account. All we are focused on is us and no one else. Sure, we also might focus on our family too. In that case it becomes we, we, we we. If we said that in a funny voice, we would sound like a little piggy.
It is OK to want the best for ourselves and our family, but there is more to life than our living for us and our family. We should care about other people as well.
There is no give when it comes to life. Countless millions around the world are living with pain in their heart, anything from death of a love one, someone turned on them, job losses or more. They long for people just to show them love and approval, someone to tell them it will be alright and to be available to them in their time of need, not telling them what to do to fix the problem but walking with them and being their friend.
Let's face it. In our world of Facebook and Instagram, we are more connected than ever, but my question is do we really know who is on the other side of the screen? Yeah, there might be bad people on our Facebook, but for our purposes now, I wonder how many times we miss out on having a face-to-face relationship with somebody in exchange for a superficial one online.
I have a Facebook account, and it is good to write encouraging messages to all of our friends and family or to ask for prayer about a need we have, but it is not good to have an arm-length relationship with everyone all the time. We need to get in people's worlds and meet them where they are.
When I was going through a difficult time in my life, there were people who were more than willing to talk to me and walk with me. They didn't judge me or make me feel like I was bugging them. They just gave me an ear to talk to. That means more to me than I can ever tell them.
Unfortunately one day I went up to a man that I know tells people about God and told him I really could use someone to talk to. Would he be willing to talk to me? He told me he was not willing and then got very uncomfortable and took off. Over time I noticed he told people about Christ but would not take the time to walk with people.
It is good to tell people about Christ or be encouraging in passing, but the best way to let someone know we care about them is to be there for them and invest in them. Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28: 19-20).
It is impossible to make disciples and to teach anyone anything without walking with them. Jesus is not a savior who doesn't walk with people. He is right there with each and every one of us. Because he is our example on how we should be living our lives, we too should be there for other people, walking beside them in their time of great need and having them know that we can be trusted with anything that they would like us to know.
We all should try our best to be available for our friends who are hurting. This doesn't mean to put our life on hold. Let me ask this: How many hours do we spend in front of the TV or doing other things that don't bring any value to our lives whatsoever? That is time we can be spending to make a phone call and check up on someone in need. Even a text can change someone's day.
I was thinking about my future one day, telling God how I don't see how he can bring everything together, almost crying, when I got a text. Part of the text read, “Just thinking/praying for you.”
The person who sent that to me lives in Canton, and I hear from him about three times a year. If God brings a person in need to your mind, pray for them and then text. Call or visit them. You never know how much that might mean to them.