We have all had them. People God brings across your path to minister to, seemingly out of the blue, seemingly random. Except we know, it was God appointed.
Did we answer the call? It could be calling someone who is lonely and discouraged and something just nudges you to do so, and you know that nudge is from the Lord. Or, it could be someone who is in a critical crisis and you are the one God uses to help them through.
A few years ago, a friend of mine met someone who recently moved into her neighborhood, and this lady and her husband had a two month old baby boy who had just died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The lady, Diana, was inconsolable in her grief to the point the husband was seriously considering committing her to a hospital. Linda, my friend who had just learned of all this going on with her new neighbors, shared all of this in a prayer request at our women’s Bible Study. She also shared that Diana and her husband were not Christians, and did not have any family in town.
I knew instantly, this was one of those times God was bringing someone across my path and I was supposed to help.
I hadn’t known Linda a very long time, and she wasn’t aware that many years ago, I had a newborn baby girl that only lived two days. I knew about loss and grief. I knew the pain of going through that difficult journey, but I also knew the Lord carried me through, both my husband and myself. I wanted Diana to know that with time and God’s help, we do move from the hurting place of grief to a healing place.
Linda called Diana and asked her if she would be willing to talk to me, and told her a little of my story. Diana was quite eager to meet with me. She was thankful to have someone to talk to about her loss. Having no family in town and a husband who couldn’t express his own grief had been a major contributing factor to the extreme downward spiral she found herself in.
I met with her many times, and Linda checked on her frequently since she was on the same street. Diana was saved during that time, and she immediately improved in her ability to cope with her loss. She read her Bible every day and started going to church and asked us to pray for her husband. He was glad she was doing better, but didn’t seem to be open to the gospel as Diana had been. But, we all kept praying for him.
I continued to regularly meet with Diana for over a year, and I will always remember the day she said she knew she was doing much better because she had begun to enjoy things again that she hadn’t enjoyed in a long time. And that getting together with me for lunch was no longer just to talk about how she was struggling, but to talk about all kinds of things, small talk, normal talk of family and church and work. She knew she had come a long way when she just wanted to get together for the purpose of spending time with a friend.
That’s when I knew she was in a healing place.
May we always keep our heart open to however God wants to use us to walk beside a hurting person, whether they have lost a job, their health, or a loved one. When God calls us to this duty, may we answer the call.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Who has God brought across your path? Has God used you recently to walk beside someone during a difficult season? Or has He brought someone along to be the person to come beside you when you were hurting? I’d love to hear your stories…
Kathy Cheek, In Quiet Places
Leave a Comment
Those moments–Divine Appointments–are when I See God loud and clear, and I’m so honored to hear Him in a just-for-me kind of way. All. For. Purpose. Such truth.
Rich blessings as you answer His call, Kathy, and as you reflect on the beauty of the times when you have…
About four years ago a lady from my church (who I knew as an acquaintance at the time, not a friend) made it a point to reach out to me as it was clear I was struggling with an eating disorder. At first I thought she was crazy (and I was rather defensive b/c I wasn’t ready for help when she first reached out) but over time God molded together a beautiful friendship.
In my first year of recovery she is the one who helped me located a therapist and would email me scriptures of encouragement a few times a week. She would check in with me over a drink at Starbucks and just talk about how I was doing, where I was at, my fears, progress, etc etc… I am still amazed that she took a LEAP of faith four years ago. She felt God calling her to speak to me and she did not ignore Him. And now…. we are close friends whose bond has overflown to many other areas of life. Love how God works!! My friend has inspired me to reach out when I see such a need, even if it is uncomfortable.
Brittnie,
Thank you for sharing your story about the lady God placed in your path just for you, and it is a LEAP of faith to step out and get in the middle of the pain in someone else’s life, I am glad she was and still is there for you, and that now you are close friends, what a blessing!
Kathy
Beautiful, Kathy, to see and hear your heart in this story! Yes, simply loving someone often makes the biggest difference!
I try to remember to ask God (as I walk out my door) daily to put people in my path who have needs today that I can help meet in His name, and to give me eyes to see those opportunities and ears to hear the pleas.
God is continually opening doors for me. I’ve had a faculty member whose husband lost his job and moved back to Florida whre the kids were. He found work there, but she was stuck up here in TN.
I heard and heeded the call to write her a note To say I’m praying. Found out she is a Christian – goes to a Christian Church and does Bible Study. She was able to mvoe back to Florida and get a job.
Now several co-workers need prayers for family struggles, dealing with older parents out of town, schooling, money, etc. I believe he puts them in our path to show us how Blessed we are and to have us stop whining about “Small, trifle things”.
Thanks for sharing your heart with us and with your neighbor!
Wonderful and inspiring story Kathy.
This story brings to mind 20 plus years ago my neighbor’s four year old little boy Tyler died….heart problems and his pace maker failed. 2 years later she sat in my living room blue recliner and announced she was expecting again and terrified. Afraid that this child would have the same heart defects……when Spencer was born he had four times the heart problems…..we prayed…..our Sunday school prayed….this boy lived…he is now 19 and has had 3 open heart surgeries and one yet to go. When God called me to come along side this woman….I had no idea it would be soooo long term. Spencer is like my third son…..love, love, love him. His mom is more than a friend to me….more like a sister. God is soooo Great!
Thank you for sharing.
God brought someone across my path years ago when I was suffering from deep depression and was actually contemplating suicide. This lady sensed it and had first hand knowledge of suicides devastation. Her husband had committed suicide and left her and her son with all the hurt and questions.
She came right along side me and helped me get the help I needed. She talked and listened. I do believe that God sent her to me and if she had not listended I do not know where I would be today.
I appreciate her so very much for all she has done for me and I am so very glad that she listened to God’s nudge.
Gloria,
God did that exact same thing for me when I was just 13 years old and standing in the school bathroom with a bunch of pills in my hand, for me it was a friend and a Christian teacher.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Kathy
Thank you for such an inspiring story. We all need to be aware of the path we walk and take note on who we might be able to help. We all could use a lot more love and encouragement in our lives.
Blessings,
Vickie
So wonderful that you could use your painful experience to be a blessing to someone else. Thanks for sharing!
I oftentimes feel compelled to share the gospel with people and chicken out!!!
This is (in)couraging to see SUCH a success story from your Christian outreach.
Praise Jesus for using you in such a glorious way! 🙂
Thanks for the encouraging words you gave to Diane, but most of all for listening to God’s call. You did not say, “No, God! Send someone else. I’m not qualified!” Just being available to talk to her changed her life eternally. What an impact for the kingdom!
Beautiful and inspiring! Thank you!
God brought many people in my life to help me. One person in particular. I am a rape survivor and needed help. It has been 7 years since the attacks. But I prayed for a support group and the next day I was watching mindless tv, (which I never do), and a documentary on Mariska Hargitay came on. She is the actress who plays Olivia Bensen in Law and Order, SVU. Well, I watched anyway, and it eventually, she talked about how difficult it was to be on the show and to get letters from survivors. She has so much compassion and is so empathetic that she started a non profit organization for victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and child abuse. I couldn’t believe that Gos answered my prayer the next day. I found the page on fb and have befriended many women who share stories with me. And one, the point of this long story, a person I know I was meant to be brought in her life and she in mine, a very close friend I have made through the foundation. I have yet to meet her. But I consider her one of my closest friends. She has helped me through some of the darkest and hardest times of my life. We both help each other through the healing process and I couldn’t be new greatful to God and to my friend I have made. Also, to Mariaka Hargitay, even though I don’t know her. God is great!
Kara,
I meant to write to you in the reply section, but I hope you see below what I wrote to you, should have finished my coffee first, but I was so moved by your story that I didn’t pay attention and missed the reply and jumped into the regular comment box!
Kathy
Kara,
I pray that healing in your life continues and thanks for sharing this with me and all the In Courage readers. I want to share this poem with you that I wrote at the time I was helping Diana, and another lady who I counseled (as a lay counselor in my church, I’m not a professional!) who had been assaulted. I wrote this for both of them while sitting at a red light on my way to church to talk with this young assault victim asking the Lord to give me the words because I felt so inadequate for that situation.
The Beauty of Healing
Any small step
Any single step
That takes you from a place
Of deep pain
To a lesser degree of that pain
Is a step towards healing
And being whole again
And every step taken
God is with you
He’s always there to walk with you
Along this healing journey
Kathy, you touched my heart so much. Your poem brought me to tears. Would you mind if I shared it on that group? I know it would touch other lives. And lol, your coffee comment made me laugh. Thank you for responding and for you kindness 🙂 And thank you for sharing your story with us. It was so touching. May God bless you!
Kara,
Yes, you can share it, just put my name with it, and add a link to my site, In Quiet Places, if you don’t mind. Thanks again for sharing such a deeply personal story, I know it will encourage many others!
Thank you! I know they will appreciate it. I wouldn’t think of not giving you credit. And thank you, I hope it does 🙂
I shared your name and the link to your site. <3
If you need to contact me, just go through my contact page on In Quiet Places.
Thanks for sharing The Beauty of Healing with others! If you want to add a verse with the poem, Psalm 34:18 and/or Psalm 147:3 are wonderful! You probably already know them…
I am praying that God would bring someone across my path that could empathize with me. I am a believer. . . I have struggled with lots of issues in my life (my mother is bipolar, I helped to raise my sisters, my mother almost died in a fatal car crash about 9 years ago, but instead lived and has been attempting suicide several times since then, my father has domestically abused my mother and they can’t live together, I manage their finanaces and help to support them).
I recently gave birth to my first child, a baby boy with Downs syndrome. I attempted to care for him for several months when I became suicidal and homocidal. . . then we placed our son with a family that would be willing to raise him. I have been seeing various counselors and psychiatrists that believe that my inability to attach to and raise my son stems from emotional trauma that stems from my very young childhood, something that will take years to work through. So the family currently caring for my son is going to adopt and raise him. This has stirred up judgements, opinions and condemnation from family and fellow believers. . . The situation is already difficult for me. . . I have done everything I have set my mind to. . . was high school valedictorian, graduated with highest honors in college, medical school, am a proficient, caring medical provider . . . I can’t do this and feel like a failure . .. We have had people tell my husband to divorce me to raise our son, I have been asked how I could be a Christian, I have been called selfish by other believers. However, I know that there is no condemnation in Christ, I know that God has grace and mercy is big enough for me and that He understands my plight.
Tiffany,
When I read this, all I could think was that this is so far beyond my ability to respond. But, I can pray and I will pray that God will bring an encourager across your path with words of kindness and wisdom, and I pray that you will seek the Lord every step along the way in all you do.
Psalm 25:4-5
4 Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
I remember reading this the day it was posted but couldn’t get a chance to respond until now. Oh how I could relate to this story! A few years ago there was a lady who stood out to me at church. She was the love of Jesus shining so brightly. I would only say hello. We sang in choir together yet I only said hello. Thats how I was with everyone. I wouldn’t open up at all because I knew just how broken I was inside and I couldn’t let them know. I was living in my own prison but couldn’t let on like I was, so I smiled, I laughed, I was polite and I spoke to people when needed. God was working so hard inside of me without my knowledge! 2 1/2 years after I saw this lady for the first time God brought her in my life! He sent her to help me find my way out of the darkness. He has used her for the last 4 years now to talk with me, pray with me, teach me about Him, grace, forgiveness, love, trust, scripture, and the list goes on and on! He brought her in my life because he knew I would find her safe, I would love her for being caring, trustworthy. I had this new wonderful friend to baptize me for the 2nd time in my life on 6/9/09! I wanted to have a new start with God and she certainly had been his mouthpiece to help me get to that place in life! I love her dearly and I thank God daily for bringing her into my life!
Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your story of this wonderful person God provided just for you, I hope you know you are completely safe in His love!