Hurting People

It was just another day relaxing at home after counseling at Hope, I was feeling especially emotional after the client I had just seen. I couldn't seem to keep her tears from flowing out of my own eyes. There are so many hurting people. How many times a day do we pass someone on the street who is just aching to have someone listen to them?

Honestly there was nothing particularily 'special' about her story. She is a typical Army wife simply trying to cope, aren't we all? What hit me so deeply today was her hunger for someone to care, someone to tell her she's beautiful, someone that will help her with her burdens....Today would be the first time I shared the Gospel with a client.

I wish I could say it came naturally. I wish I could say I was highly confident, but I wasn't.

I fumbled over my words at first. I even paused to have a silent argument with God:

Me: No God, not me, not now. I am not ready.
God: But she is.

Wow! You can't argue with God...

I opened my eyes to God and He opened my heart to hers. She was so engulfed by everything I was saying, she had never heard about salvation or how Jesus Christ died for us.

I let out a sign of relief once I had finished all I felt I needed to say. She sat silently, taking it all in. I wish I could say that I gained a sister in Christ in that moment, but I didn't.

Maybe she accepted His gift later that day or maybe she will next week; I may never know what came of our conversation that day. But I do know that my life is forever changed by that client. I realized what a broken world we live in and how often we ignore the hurting. There are so many people desperate who are looking for something more: they are looking to be held, loved, safe. Only God can provide such things. Who are we to keep His gift to ourselves?

<3 JT