James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily foodand one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
There is a woman I work with who recently lost her husband after a long battle with an awful brain disease. Before he passed, she would come in to work seeming just as calm, cool, and collected as anyone; you would never know what was going on outside of her “9-5” life. She radiated such strength and was (is) truly one of the classiest women I know. She would share with me and another co-worker sometimes and we would see a glimpse into the pain that was her life at that moment. She would usually hurry away when she started to get emotional.
It’s been a couple weeks now and she has returned to work. I sit at the front desk and greet everyone as they come in every morning and when I see her, I am reminded of how her life has been altered and yet, the days keep going; they turn into weeks, which turn into months, years. I was talking with her earlier this week and she was explaining how she could just use a week off to simply catch up; to go through the mess that is her room, to clean, to organize, or maybe even to just sit and take a breath. She has needs.
As I was sitting in church this past Tuesday night for our young adults group, I was looking around at the couple hundred different faces, stories, lives being lived and thinking about how many needs were represented there in that room. What if we, the followers of Jesus, took on the role of need meeters; the people who see or hear about a need and figure out a way to simply just meet it?
I am still trying to figure out what meeting the need of my co-worker looks like. I tried asking about donated PTO (paid-time-off) days, maybe a cleaning service gift card, or maybe just offering my time to come and help her. I very much believe in the power of prayer and I also believe that we can be Jesus to people by letting Him use us to be need meeters 🙂
Just some thoughts 🙂 thanks for reading! 166 days and counting!
mckenna
