When a need is made known to you, how do you respond? I ask because what I have often observed within the body of Christ is a standard answer given when people share a need. I think the most common response is, "I will pray for you" or "I will pray about it." I cannot help but wonder what would happen if this had been Jesus' response to those who sought Him. When coming to Him for the healing only He could give, what if He had responded to them by saying, "Ok, I will pray about it."
Don't misunderstand. I know prayer is important and a very necessary part of our relationship with God. However, we must be careful to never let prayer become our excuse for inaction. If someone is in need of food and we have food, then why do we have to think about sharing? If someone is in need of clothing and we have extra, then why do we continue with our excess? I know it can become overwhelming to think of all the needs in our world. We are not called to provide for the world on our own. There are, however, times in our lives when we are directly approached by someone or a need is shared with us. It is in these moments that we must be wise in how we respond.
I believe how we respond in these kinds of circumstances can be a mirror of our hearts. Do we respond with compassion as Jesus did or do we want to know how the person ended up in their situation before responding. The religious leader's of Jesus' day were experts at this type of judgment. When seeing an affliction on someone they wanted to know who had sinned. Did the afflicted sin or was it the result of the sin of their father? There are times we are more like the pharisees than like Jesus. If a need is shared and we respond by wanting to know all the details of how the person arrived in their current situation, then that is not being Christ-like. In order to be like Jesus, we should respond to the need and then seek to encourage change where it may be needed in order to avoid repeating the situation.
Has anyone expressed a need to you recently? Do you have the means to meet that need? Oftentimes someone may not directly ask for help, but simply mention something happening in their life. Think about the people you know who may be in a difficult situation. Do they have a vehicle that may be in need of an oil change or new tires? Do they have children who need new shoes? Would a bag of groceries help them eat this week? Part of walking this Christian walk is remaining alert and aware to the needs of those around us. I would love to hear how you step out and help someone this week!
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