Monday, August 29, 2011

When Others Are Going Through...Give

    When going through trials and tribulations throughout my life, many people have offered their advice to me and words that they thought were words of encouragement.  I say "thought" because a lot of times people thought that they were encouraging me, when in fact, they were actually making the situation worse.  I know this to be true in the lives of others as well. 
     During times of hunger, no one wants to hear, "Well, I'm praying for you."  That person actually wants some bread.  When a person's car is low on gas, "Good luck with that" is not what the person wants nor needs to hear.  When a person is ill, that person doesn't want to hear, "Hey, people get past this sort of thing all the time."  That person needs your prayers and encouragement. 
     Your prayers for people are good, but when there is a need to be met, you should try to meet that need, for it is people that God uses to answer the prayers of others.  This is is no way an attempt to discredit praying for others, but an attempt to show that we should learn to put action behind our empathy.  So many times we ask God how is it that we can serve Him, when He has given us numerous opportunities to do so through giving.  It all falls under the system of sowing and reaping, as we should always remember that it may be someone else down today, but our own personal downfall could be tomorrow. 
     Let's remember to love one another as Christ loves us, and to show ourselves charitable as often as those opportunities present themselves. Toya