”Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, it if is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:16-17, NIV).
I recall an occasion when I was going through a very difficult time of grief and discouragement. I shared this with a friend whose immediate response was, “Are you in the Word, Dick?” — meaning are your reading your Bible every day?
My heart sank and I replied, “Joan, what do you do when you are hungry?
“I get the point,” she answered.
“What I need right now is a friend,” I replied.
Sure I believe in reading the Bible and praying daily, but will this take away our pain when we are hurting and desperately lonely? Not for those of us who have feet of clay.
After Elijah’s incredible victory at Mt. Carmel over the 300 prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel was so furious, she was determined to have Elijah’s head. Elijah fled to save his life — into the wilderness. He was so depressed he sat under a juniper tree and wanted to die. God sent an angel to minister to him and did the angel say, “Elijah, rise and read your Bible and pray?”
No. The angel said, “Rise and eat!”
Elijah was emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausted. What he needed was a good meal. Sometimes that’s what we need too when the cares and/or pressures of life have got us down. Or we need a loving hug … or someone just to listen to us, to care, and understand — not to give us advice or try to fix us, but just to be with us and give us their loving presence.
James had it right. True religion is not only to “walk with God” but to understand people’s immediate and felt needs and to minister to them at their point of need — or to be “as Christ” to them.
Suggested prayer: “Dear God, when I feel all stressed out, help me to find loving and understanding friends to reach out to. And when my friends reach out to me for loving support when they are hurting, help me to be there for them and give them my loving presence without any kind of compulsion to give them advice or try to fix them. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”