A pastor in Michigan didn’t judge my unsaved dad because he avoided the church services.
Thomas Grassano, Sr. and his wife shared beef tacos at Dad and Mom’s home on numerous occasions. He wanted to be Dad’s friend. Dad didn’t accept Christ under that pastor’s ministry, but the seeds of kindness eventually grew into faith and Dad accepted Christ in his mid-sixties.
When a hospital co-worker experienced a long-term illness, I saw her getting weaker. Even after visiting doctors, she had no answer for her illness. She began to miss work. One day I took her a chicken pot pie and drove her to the bank at her request. Later, I said, “Mary, I’ve talked to our emergency room director, and she said if we come to the ER she will make sure a good doctor sees you. Will you go with me?”
“Yes,” she said, “I’ll go.”
“Can I pray with you that the doctors will be able to diagnose your problem?”
She agreed and we prayed. Mary was admitted to the hospital that day, and when we had a moment alone, I said, “Mary, let’s thank God for your answer?”
Mary had recently awakened at 2:00 a.m. in pain. “I knew you were praying for me,” she told me.
How did she know? I hadn’t said anything before this. Those who are near to the kingdom know when they encounter kingdom people. They know who to call on for prayer.
After two days, the doctor told her, “Mary, you’re going to make it.”
The Word challenges us to recognize and meet the needs of others as the Proverbs 31 woman did. Quoting Scripture isn’t the only way to entice unbelievers toward salvation. People around us need someone to express God’s love to them.
Mary Crowley, founder of Home Interiors, Inc. had a motto for sales success: “Find a need and fill it.”
God’s work is similar. Perhaps your neighbor needs a friend or someone to care about their troubles.
Recognize a need and ask God for wisdom to minister to that need.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Phyllis Qualls Freeman is a freelance writer with twenty years’ experience and more than four hundred published devotions, magazine articles, and newspaper human-interest pieces. She lives near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Answered Prayers, and several anthologies. She writes devotions on assignment and enjoys mentoring new writers.