Live creatively, friends. If someone falls…, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself… Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law.
Galatians 6:1,2 The Message
We were driving back after visiting our precious granddaughter when we encountered heavy rains. We could barely see the car in front of us and had to slow down significantly to make sure we were still going in the right direction. We prayed for our Redeemer’s guidance. We asked Him to hold us as we passed through the storm that ended up taking many other lives.
This experience got me thinking about a lady who is going through relationship issues. Depressed, she does not see any way out because she has no family to confide in and has been carrying the burden on her shoulders. All she is seeing right now is a very foggy road. She does not even know which direction to take. Unfortunately, she is not the only one in this world needing a precious friend to hold her hand as she passes through a life storm.
At one time or another, all of us have gone – or will go- through challenges in our personal lives, times when we will not be able to see a way forward or how we are going to sort out our situations. In those times, all looks so dark and gloomy that we don’t know what to do or where to go. Sometimes we even forget that it is only by letting God carry us through that storm that we are able to get through those foggy, rainy days.
In the Bible, we find stories of many faithful and courageous women. One is Esther. In her time, women were to be seen but not heard. Because of a godly upbringing by her cousin and being chosen by the Persian king to be his queen, Esther had no doubt God had put her where she was for a purpose – to save her people when the situation was so dim that none of them knew what to do. Esther knew, however, that only the faithful Jehovah would help her people. So she and a few others fasted and prayed for several days. God heard and rescued His people.
God has also put you in a place where you can hold someone’s hand while you help them through the darkest moments of their lives. This is a responsibility for all of us if we would fulfill His command to love others as ourselves. May the Lord lead you to someone today – maybe someone who is oppressed and needs to be held by you as you continue to hold on to God.
Judith M. Mwansa recently returned to her native Zambia with Pardon, her husband, to Rusangu University after years of church work in the United States of America. While there, she worked at the GC Women’s Ministries department, assisting with the production of the devotional books.
From Notes of Joy, Copyright©2017 by Pacific Press Publishing Association