A friend told me about something that happened with him in a restaurant.  Alec and his friends were being seated, and as they walked by an elderly man, this man reached out to touch him.  The elderly man seemed unable to talk, but clearly wanted to make contact.  Alec spoke to him, but even more, he took the man’s extended hand and held it for a
moment.  He had no idea who the man was, but he honored his need for touch.  He
gave kindness without hesitation and with no expectation of receiving anything.

My friend didn’t think much about it as similar things with people happen to him often, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. My years of people-contact training told me exactly what had happened and it didn’t happen by chance.  The man did not reach out to any of the others in the group, only to Alec.  He “knew” Alec would respond to him.  Just as
animals have instinct about people, children and the elderly also have a keen sense
of those who will treat them kindly, a sense of who they can trust.

I believe it is the simple acts of kindness to strangers that define us.  To react to someone we know and like with compassion is one thing, to respond warmly to a stranger, quite
another.

Jesus said this: “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to Me. . . . . Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Matthew 25:35-36, 40 (NKJV)

Anytime we respond to a stranger’s need with an act of kindness, we honor God and make a statement about ourselves.

Jesus, help me to notice that person today who needs a smile, a word, or a touch.  May I not draw back, but reach out in Your love.  May I leave this world a better
place, with the little things you lead me to do.  Amen.

French author, Gustave Flaubert said “Human language is like a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, when all the time we are longing to move the stars to pity.”  In my hospital setting it looked like this:

A 16 year-old complained about everything to do with his nursing care.  He told me loud and clear that he didn’t like “this place” and that nobody cared about him.    What he finally said was, “I’m so afraid I’m going to die.  I don’t want to die, Pat; I’m scared.”

The mother of a young quadriplegic patient told me “No one cares how my son feels.  They won’t listen to him when he asks for help.  It’s just like a prison here.”   What she eventually said was “This boy is my husband’s whole life.  I’ve tried to be a good mother – it’s all I know how to do.   How could I have let this accident happen?”

Then there was a family member who said, “My sister should be in intensive care.  If anything goes wrong, I’m going to call the newspaper.”   Soon I learned, “I agreed to no attempts to resuscitate if her heart stops, but I’m having trouble with that.  I’ve taken care of her for years and I’m just not ready to give her up.”

None of these complaints were about me personally, so I could address them easily and effectively.  It was my job, and a work I loved doing.  But when unwarranted complaining is personal, it’s quite a different matter.

It may be that you are in a situation now where the deep wounds of another are surfacing and you find yourself in the line of fire.  The hope for the injured and angry person is professional counseling.   If you engage in a situation not of your making and out of your control to fix, it will probably encourage the complainer and cause you to doubt yourself.  I encourage you to give yourself some distance and care for the person through prayer.  Sometimes that is all you can do and the very best thing to do.  It is never right to assume guilt for something you didn’t do – and an extremely difficult lesson for some of us to learn.

May this be your prayer if you are under attack:

Father, bless the hurting with professionals who can help them.  Bless me with a clear and wise mind to discern my part in another’s pain.  If I can help, then show me how.  And if I cannot, give me peace and acceptance.  Teach me to be gentle with myself and not carry the weight of things You never asked me to carry.  Amen.

Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.  — Psalm 68:10

Hearing the voice of God takes trust and practice.  It requires believing what you hear even
though it may not make sense in man’s way of thinking.

One of the most remarkable times of hearing and acting on God’s voice was following the brutal death of a young man’s mother.  Though I had admired Barry’s mother, I did not
know her well.   Yet immediately following her death, I began hearing God’s voice about how I was to interact with her son. It was a strong and unrelenting voice.  I spent hours on
my knees for Barry and received daily instruction on exactly what I was to do.

There were days when I questioned if I was truly hearing God’s voice or simply reacting to heartache over the situation.  I counseled with a friend and she thought I was reacting emotionally and should remove myself from his life.  But I could not.  God kept drawing me back – always, always providing clear instruction.   It was never a matter of my thinking ‘what can I do for Barry today?” but “Pat, here is what I, the Lord God, am asking you to do for him.”

I often questioned, why me? Why not a family member or close family friend?  The best answer that presented itself was learning from Barry that my personality and beliefs were very much like his mom’s.  I was as amazed as he when I would do something that was exactly as his mother had done for him, and there were many such incidences.    I believe that is why he trusted me and never doubted my intentions.  These things seemed to bring him moments of joy – a sense that his mother was reaching out to him through me.

The relationship went on for over a year and it ended as suddenly as it began.  There was peace about all I had done and that it was now time to cease my walk on the journey with Barry.  Other than continue praying for him, of course.  What being used in his life meant in its fullness, I will only know in heaven.  I believe Barry’s mother will be one of the first people I see and we will talk it over in detail.

This was a great lesson for me in trusting God’s voice.  Each time I doubted, God interceded so unmistakably that all doubt was removed.  It taught me that once I was certain of His voice, I was to act without reservation or hesitation.   I was not to reason it out, just act.  And above all, TRUST.

 And when He brings out His own
sheep, He goes before them: and the sheep follow Him, for they know His
voice.  — John 10:13

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him.  And He shall direct your paths.   — Proverbs 3:5

(All scriptures, NKJV)

We all need a daily place of solitude, a place to be in communion with God and with ourselves.  For me, the time is early morning.  I love to watch the day arrive and experience the quiet and still of dawn, hear the first chatter of birds, the occasional sound of a cricket holding on to night.

There is majesty in a sunrise.  It tells of God and His abiding love and rule over all He created.  It speaks another chance for us to get it right.

To commune with nature at the first of day is nourishment for my soul.  It centers me and calms me.  It brings clearer thinking.  It wraps me in peace and reassurance that trials will not be forever, and surprises of great joy may be just ahead.  And without question, it is always strength for my day.

Creator, I see Your love in each morning sky, and thank You for the magnificence that it paints on my soul.  I praise You for giving us ways to rest in solitude with you – and cost us nothing but our time. You, indeed, are the Lover of our souls. 

Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!
Psalm 31:19

We have a Father who is good and only good. There is nothing evil in Him, ever. He is righteousness and light. He is kindness and love. He is full of mercy and forgiveness. He is a just God.

The more we search for Him, the more we find Him. The more we find Him, the more we love Him. And the more we love Him, the more we will walk with Him.

Our Father has laid out a perfect plan for each one of His children; His desire is for our happiness and well-being. But because we are caught in human flesh, we may question whether the trials and tribulations we experience are intended to take us to higher places. We can imagine and dream of what will give us joy and contentment, but we will visualize on what we know in this world. Our minds cannot reach the higher places that God knows.  And here is where our trust in Him becomes everything.

Unless we have practiced walking with the Father, completely convicted of His love for us and His desire to give us His very best – even the very longings of our hearts – we will not understand the tests of endurance and perseverance. We will find no shelter from life’s toughest storms.

Deuteronomy 13:3 says, “. . . for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

2 Chronicles 6:14 says “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.”

There can be only one Master in our lives and we are allowed to decide who that will be. Psalm 30:5  says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Will you trust Him?

(All scriptures are from the New King James Version.)

For I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil,
that you may have a future and a hope.   Jeremiah 29:11

When I become shaky with fear or anxiety, I remember God is in control, and He is neither fearful nor anxious.  God always has a clear mind, a steady hand, and a plan for us that never changes.

When I worry that my confusion and hesitancy are problems for God, I remember He understands me entirely and loves me completely.   Creator God made me, and He made me exactly as He wanted me to be.

My ups and down may give Him quiet laughter, but they never cause Him to turn His back on me.  They may cause Him to wish I would trust more and fret less, but His plan for me in the beginning is the same plan He has for me now.

I may stumble and fall, I may cry out in dismay, I may ask for things not for my good.  But the one thing I am most certain of is that God will stay steadily on course.  He will not be discouraged nor fail to carry me on to the place He chooses me to be and the things He chooses me to do.

Abba Father, thank You that You are constant.  Thank You that when I am completely unlovable in man’s eyes, You love me anyway.  Thank You that when I fail You, You never fail me.  Thank you, Abba Father, for Your blessings of past and present and those yet to come.  I give You all the praise!

One of my earliest memories of my grandmother  is of her praying on her knees at her bedside.  She would kneel in her homemade muslin gown, bow her head with clasped hands, and speak aloud to God.  In the early years, she wore her hair in a wreath of braids during the day and by night they fell down her back to her waist.

Prayer was as natural to her as breathing.  Once as a child, when I was sick with probably
no more than a stomach virus, I recall her praying over me beside my bed, kneeling
before the Lord and asking Him to make me well.  There’s something golden about
hearing your grandmother’s prayers for you.  It makes a place in your heart that never goes away.

Dulcie Pauline Cotton Spencer was a woman full of faith.  In fact, the Godliest person I’ve ever known.   She walked in every way with the Lord and trusted Him with a full heart.  She read aloud God’s word, she sang hymns all through the day, and she talked to Jesus
as if He was right there beside her.  And He was, just as He is with us, but she lived it out better than most of us do.  Her faith was deep yet simple.  No questions, no confusion.

I thank You, most wonderful God, for allowing me to be the grandchild of Dulcie Spencer.  She had more influence on my life than any other person.  Mama Dulcie passed her faith on to me, as well as her way of looking at life.  I miss her terribly and look toward that day when I will see her again and feel her warm embrace.  I just know, Father, that she has to be one of Your very favorites — and I understand that completely.