When I enter my day and I give it to the Lord making his will above mine, he will many times make Divine appointments. He will have a certain person cross my path and I always thought it was because I needed to tell them about the Lord. However, he has been showing me that we have to be very sensitive to not speak what we WANT to say but speak to THEIR emotional needs.
The Lord has been teaching me that these Divine appointments are usually because someone needs to be seen or heard. Inside they are silently screaming for someone to see them, hear them or care about them. When we come across these people during our day we need to silently ask the Lord, "You know what this person needs. I am asking you to use my mouth to speak to them or my ears to listen to them or my arms to help them. Let your will and your purpose be done right now."
My first instinct was always to jump in to their emotions and immediately share a story of mine to let them know that I empathize with them and they're not alone. That might be something that you can share later but I've come to learn that it's more important just to focus on their need in the beginning.
I once read that " Hurt people, hurt people." Romans 12:15 also says, "weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who are rejoicing." Most people that I come across just need someone to see them. They want to be heard and acknowledged. However, there are times when a person is hurting and they may not be acting very nice. I would have to say though that most times I can break through that with love and get them to smile, talk or accept a compliment. There are very few people that are hard as Stone but I still say something nice to them and I know that God will send someone else to keep trying to make them feel loved. Sometimes it's simply just not our job that day. The Lord may only want us to start the softening process and leave the rest to someone else.
As you reach out to people you start to sense what God wants in the situation. Sometimes I come across people that are broken. They are emotionally distraught about something and they just need someone to listen or be on their side. They need to not feel alone, abandoned or deserted. They simply need someone to care.
I've come across angry people, wounded people, joyful people and apathetic people. I just make sure that I make them feel loved and heard. I don't let their attitude trigger me to become defensive anymore because the Lord has made it very clear that he wants me to go out there and love people the way that he loves. Every situation is different. There will be times where I will just listen and other times where I will pray with them, or put my hand on their arm and comfort them or hug them if they give me permission. I always leave them with a scripture of Hope. I look with sincere love deep into their eyes and I tell them that I heard them and I see their pain. I'll ask their name and I put it in my prayer list on my phone right in front of them and tell them that I will be praying for them.
I'm just a person that has a lot of empathy and thanks to God I have good boundaries also. I finally understand that it's not about going out there and giving what I think people need but just doing for others what he did for me. He sees me, he hears me, he comforts me, he changes me and then he asks me to go out and love people that same way. I know people that could never go out and talk to people the way that I do. But they serve in their own quiet way by helping others through acts of service.
We have to stop being so busy that we don't see the needs that are all around us. Make someone feel seen today.
No comments:
Post a Comment