What love in God's Name can do

     Yesterday, I had the gift of seeing God's work in action through the loving hands of others.  There is a wonderful place in my city run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.  These nuns have devoted their lives to ministering selflessly to the blessed people who live in their retirement home.  Their stated motivation is to share the love and compassion of Jesus.  They are the quiet backbone of the place, and they live their sincerity in every aspect of making this place into a genuine home for their residents.
     The grounds are stunning, with beautifully-maintained gardens.  The clean, fresh rooms have large windows with views of the mountains or the city. The food is excellent. The nuns select employees and volunteers to assist their beloved residents who are not only glad to be working there, but who truly care about the people they are serving.  When a staff member noticed that a resident with a hard-to-please appetite was devouring the hash at breakfast, for example, that staffer quickly saved an extra serving of hash for her to eat at a later meal. 
     And the result of all this?  The residents live an astonishingly long time. People enter this facility with terminal cancer, and get better.  People may enter in their late 70s, and live 20 years or more. I was there for the celebration of a resident's 95th birthday.  She looked younger than her years, because she was living so well.  
     Understandably, the waiting list for new residents is endless, because the reputation of this wonderful place continues to spread--and the people who live here aren't leaving!  Who wouldn't want to stay there?  To be cared for with great love, fed good food in a lovely setting--what's not to love?     
     It was a breath of fresh air in an airless world to see a place where God's love is shown and poured out so sweetly.  The world hungers for this, doesn't it?  When God's plan is lived out, the world sees it, and wants what he offers.

How can I pour out your love, Lord today?  Show me ways to be careful and attentive to the very real human needs around me.  Help me to see with your eyes and your compassion, not just the people "out there," but those in my own family it's easier to overlook.  Please, Lord, replace my weary heart and spirit with your eternal Spirit. 
Breathe into me your newness, your energy, to your glory. 

If you give yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your gloom will rise like the midday.

Isaiah 58:10

He truly understands

He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be filled with horror and deep distress. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me."

Mark 14:33, 34

As we lead up to Easter on our calendar, it's always good to let ourselves review again what Jesus took on for our sakes. There's a reason that the gospels give so much detail about Jesus' actual suffering, and I believe at least part of it is to help us understand that he himself has known the full extent of any pain we might feel.

If you've ever had a terrible loss in your life, you know that aching, crushing heaviness in your heart and soul that Jesus is describing here to his friends. He longed for their support and physical presence to comfort and be with him as he faced the desperate hours ahead.  

Did his friends stand by him?  We all know the answer to that. Well, yes and no. They were there in body only. Jesus' dearest, most trusted friends let him down when he asked very specifically for only one thing: stay awake and pray.  At one time or another, we have all been in the position of Jesus asking for help, or in the disciples' position of letting down our loved one, haven't we?

Jesus shared his anguish with his friends, and asked for their support.  Then they had to be awakened to greet Judas and the guards when they came to arrest Jesus. So, when his friends failed him, was Jesus left alone in his agony?  

Of course not. Don't forget the rest of the story. In Luke 22:42,43, after Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine," an angel appeared and strengthened him.  When humans were not able to step up and give Jesus the support he needed, God intervened.    

God did provide comfort and strength for Jesus in that terrible night, just as he has always been there for you and for me.  God will minister to you when loved ones fail, whether through his Word, or through prayer, a stranger, or an even angel. He will be as faithful to lift us from our pain as he is to lift us from our sin. He has saved us to the uttermost. Praise his Name!