THE WILL OF LOVE

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  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

It was a gorgeous day, and I was looking forward to meeting with my friends in front of our church for our weekly hour of prayer together. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a stranger pacing back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the building. She walked with her head down so that her hair concealed her face, and she leaned heavily on a sturdy cane as she walked with a considerable limp. Her clothing was clean and in good condition, so I doubted she was one of the homeless people who often come to our sanctuary for help. I won’t describe her in any more detail so as to preserve her dignity.

 I greeted her as pleasantly as I could while still being cautious because I was the only one there with her at that point. That’s all it took before the torrent of words and tears came pouring out. She was lucid but obviously also suffered from some sort of mental illness. Her story was one of horrific abuse and suffering. As the regular group members arrived, I interrupted the steady flow of her outpouring long enough to introduce each one, and to quickly explain as best as I could what was happening.

There was a quick, tacit, and mutual agreement between us regulars that this would be no normal day of prayer. My carefully planned prayer sheet, guiding us through a time of reading God’s Word, praise, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession, was quietly set aside as the Lord orchestrated each of our unique giftings to minister to our distraught visitor. Finally, after a couple of hours, one of my friends was able to contact a family member to take our unexpected guest home.

As I reflected later on that extremely challenging, awesomely holy time, God dealt with my heart. He showed me how the trained counselor in me wanted to diagnose, how my flesh was impatient and frustrated because the morning wasn’t going the way I’d scripted, but how Christ in me wanted her to know His great love. I’m so thankful He was there!

We all have those times when an extra measure of His grace is needed. Some people are just harder to deal with than others. Frankly, I’m quite sure there are many times that I, myself am that challenging person requiring extraordinary patience on the part of others in my life. Ultimately, I must remember that it is the Lord God Who has the patience, grace, and love, to spend as much time with me as needed to draw me to Himself, and to be willing to sacrifice my selfish will to His will of love.



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