I wouldn’t name her — I respect her privacy and admire her humility too much — but heavy on my heart tonight is an incredible member of our jail ministry team. We’ll just call her J.
A few months ago, she answered one of my desperate pleas for help and agreed to take a woman to our church food pantry because she had no way to get there.
That’s all I asked — she gave SO much more. J continued to drive this woman almost weekly to the food pantry, chauffeured her to counseling appointments, doctor appointments, and more. J has been a better friend to a woman who needed one than most will ever know in life.
And now, the woman for whom she has done so much is facing daunting circumstances — chronic pain, extensive medical needs, and potential homelessness.
So my ministry partner (and dear friend) is overwhelmed. It’s possible that the time has come that God is saying, “J, you’ve done everything I have asked of you, but this is not your problem to solve. I have a way.”
It’s risky and hard to get involved, but it’s down right painful to step back once you have.
I texted her tonight, praying it would encourage her —
“Sympathy and basic human compassion are common, easy, and not terribly remarkable. But to LOVE is extraordinary, very difficult, and emotionally expensive. You have not taken the easy way out.”
Please pray with me tonight — for the woman who needs a way to keep moving forward, and for J to be encouraged and to realize that although God sometimes asks a lot of us, His ways are mysterious and miraculous.
And I hope this will challenge more people to love like J loves. Basic human civility is nothing special — more people have it than do not. But to LOVE others is exceptional. To make a significant investment in another human being with no promise of return is phenomenal.
Jesus asks His followers to demonstrate uncommon love, just as He loved us.