A couple of weeks ago a friend shared with me that she sometimes felt invisible when she came to church. It stuck with me because I never want anyone to feel invisible, so recently at church I went up to a perfect stranger, who was alone in her pew and crying and put my hand on her back. I broke the rules of proximity. The rules in that situation would have said… she is crying… she needs to be alone… God is working something in her… just let Him do what he is doing… give her space and privacy… don’t embarrass her. But the overwhelming conviction of my heart drew me to break those rules. I thought what if she feels invisible right now; I want her to know that she is not alone.
She did not want to talk about what she was going through but we ended up sharing a nice conversation and I wonder if the young desperate mother from Wal-Mart had someone break the rules of proximity and charter some uncomfortable territory would she and her baby be alive right now?
It is not about talking to every stranger or always looking for who needs your help but we do need to be aware that people all around us are struggling, contemplating suicide, lonely, in need of love and we have the very thing that could save their soul. We have the love of God to share with the hurting world. It’s about being open to break the rules of proximity, to ask that question that might make both of you a little uncomfortable for a moment; it’s about opening your eyes to the one right in front of you. Maybe that girl I met at church was thinking of committing suicide, maybe she felt like someone cared enough to touch her and pray for her, maybe that was enough for now to choose to live a little longer. Maybe she is single and hasn’t even been touched for a whole day or a whole week by anyone, we never know what the story is, but asking, and showing interest and sharing love will mean more than we will ever know. We can all do this every day.
Do you have any stories where you broke the rules of proximity and reached beyond your comfort zone?
Dearest Lori:
I find it very hard not to reach out to someone hurting. Especially thoughs who may be rejected by society. When I come across someone hurting I actually “feel it” as wierd as that sounds. This has been a struggle for me all my life for especially as a child it has put me in harms way and even though I may be scared of the people who are hurting my drive to help them somehow someway has allowed me to reach out to them (for better sometimes and for worse in others) I am so thankful that I am learning God’s Word and learning to walk under His umbrella of protection through obedience to Him. It is allowing me to be able to know the safe way to help people who God places in my path. When I ask the Holy Spirit to guide my every interaction (and I listen and obey His guidence) He really Knows what He is doing to say the least. He can do so much healing when we follow Him compared to the mountains of effort that I may put in when I work things out in my will. The other cool thing about God is that He is allowing me to be able to work with and connect with “normal/successful” people (sometimes-a work in progress) too. I have never thought myself worthy or normal enough to interact with “regular” people but He is showing me that He wants to use our lives in all areas and interactions so ever so slowly He is helping me be free to do His work. So I am starting to be able to speak with “normal” people and even men now.
God is so good.
As for the proximity thing I have a very hard time when others approach me and talking with men (sorry men and “normal” people please don’t take it personal if you sense me struggling) I even need to turn my body slighty so I am not directly faceing someone when they are speaking with me (how odd is that) and as far as eye contact it is a huge struggle for me.
The very interesting thing is that when I am being directed in His purposes and I KNOW that I KNOW that I KNOW (even though “I” don’t know) that I am in His will all that washes away. It is gone and I am free. It is so neat. However I am learning that in these times I actually am too much. The Lord is showing me how to read others comfort levels and helping me to “contain” His energy and share it appropriately and effectively (sometimes-it is so hard to keep the amount of energy the Lord fills me with under control and it needs to be His control or things will not accomplish what He had for that momment).
Anyways I have gone on too long got to go.
Peace and blessings to you and yours in Jesus name I pray:
Donna
P.S. For you moms out there have you ever tried to type with a child in your arms? Not so easy eh? talk about multy tasking!
Hi Lori,
I completely agree with Donna. I find it hard not to reach out to others. As I wrote in one of my comments a few days ago, part of God’s will for me is with people who are experiencing emotional pain and sadness. I sometimes, not all times, “feel” what they are feeling. I am extremely empathetic/highly sensitive to the emotions of others. Just being in the same room with someone who is sad, is enough to bring about the feeling. I know this may sound odd (actually when I read in Donna’s comment that she can sometimes “feel it”, I knew exactly what she meant). I believe that this is a gift from God and it only allows me to be able to better understand and empathize with the person who may need my help. When you approached the lady in church because of the overwhelming conviction of your heart, I think that was God’s voice inside of you telling you to approach her.
We need to listen to His voice and allow Him to use us whenever and wherever He needs us.
This is a topic that I could talk and comment on at great length and I don’t want to become too lengthy.
Have a wonderful day Lori,
Many blessings to your family
Shelley & Donna,
Have you guys met yet? You both have such deep hearts of compassion. It’s beautiful.
You are right Shelley, that was God and the exciting thing is that only in Heaven will I ever know what that woman was really going through.
It’s a blessing to be a blessing