By Steve Wickham
It wouldn't be an unusual scenario in any of our lives to have a loved one or dear friend who needs to know, 'we are here for you.' There are people all over the planet who feel that way right now.
Such a need to hear 'we are here for you' only just shades the necessity to say it.
Those who say with compassion what others need to hear are Godsends. And those who hear what God has to say to them through a caring friend are blessed to journey forward in a hope that can only be learned. (I say that hope really does need to be learned; the need of hope exists, yet it's only when we experience hope that we realise it really does exist as the resplendence of a truth we now possess.)
There are people in our midst right now who are need, and we may or may not be aware of it. We may or may not have the capacity to help them. We may or may not know what to say, but be encouraged, we can always listen without needing to know the answer.
God seems to send each of us into the fore, of the person we know, unsteady and struggling, right to their door.
Whenever we walk out of our door expecting to encounter somebody who needs to hear 'we are here for you' we can expect to be shown such a person who needs to hear it. We walk out of our door to be invited into theirs. It doesn't always happen, but when we expect it to happen we're ready for such a necessary encounter.
You send the message, a most desperate plea, just don't dilute the message, so we begin to doubt what we see.
We're certainly aware of those who would send the message 'I cannot do this anymore'... some say it too much, never truly meaning it as some who would never say it and yet take their lives. All are implored not to cry wolf. Yet equally we're all implored never to imagine a person is.
We are here for you is a message for at least three kinds of people:
The person deep in their need, enshrined in the need of support. They simply must be met in their moment of need or something dire could occur. It's anyone!
The person who has the wherewithal to help. With the capacity and the reach to help, it's our privilege to simply extend our hand of help. Yes, it's us!
The person we know and care about that will receive help and we won't even know about it. It causes us to be thankfully grateful for the grace extant in the moment that we have no inkling of. It's someone we care about, and someone we don't even know - who cares!
Imagine God training us to see the potential neediness in every person we encounter, looking for it, and able to meet it. Suddenly, we see the person as someone not to be judged, nor envied or condemned or even pitied, but as a person, like us all, with frailties. We meet them with a love we wish our loved ones, or even ourselves, could receive in such a need.
Steve Wickham holds Degrees in Science, Divinity, and Counselling. Steve writes at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com.au/ and http://tribework.blogspot.com.au/