By: Sister Tarpley, NDG Religion Editor
“This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.” Lamentation 1:16.
The story is told of a lady’s family and friends. “We walked into the worship service. I pushed my Mom’s wheelchair into the room among many, many others. This was no ordinary worship service. This wasn’t our first time. The organizer recognized us and asked if we would assist in handing out the songbooks. About only 20% of the participants could actually use them. For most of them it sat on their laps. “Why does life have to be reduced to this?” I questioned and prayed silently to the Lord. “If Jesus walked through this room, how many would He restore?” I continued to ponder. There were miraculous signs that Jesus did. Also, “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade,” Acts 5:12.
When is the last time you saw a miracle? Perhaps you prayed for someone and they were instantly healed. The disciples were working people. They turned the world upside down not because of their knowledge of Jesus, but because of their outflow of the power of Jesus through them to others.
You see, I was in a dementia and Alzheimer’s elderly care nursing home unit where my mom resided. A few chairs over sat the father of my older sisters’ longtime best friend. Next to him was my brother-in-law’s grandmother. They were all once successful people – doctors, lawyers, business leaders, and stay-at home moms. They had, at one time, lived in fine southern homes. But they now lived in one-half of a single room. Some patients could recognize their loved ones, others could not.
The service began with singing. Only a few voices could be heard among the patients. A simple message followed. Then, something remarkable happened. The speaker said they would now close with a well-known song. It began this way; “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Suddenly, the voices in the room got louder. Patients that were not singing before were now singing. I looked over at my mom. She was whistling the tune. Yes, the presence of Jesus was walking through the room. But it wasn’t in the way I thought He’d come. Sometimes the presence of God can show up in the smallest and simplest acts. Jesus had worked miraculously in the residents.
It is good to praise God for He is awesome and a Holy Being. Thank Him for the life He gave to you. Appreciate the beautiful blessings that God has provided in the earth around us and the simple, but important, things of life. Thank God for family–birth family, extended family, and church family. Ask for forgiveness for taking them for granted sometimes, and ask God to help you to always show your appreciation and love for them.
Thank God for taking care of you. Thank Him for answering your prayers in the way that He knows is best. Thank Him for always being here for you. And thank Him in the name of Jesus for He paid the price on the cross for you to come boldly before God. And when you pray, God listens; when you listen, God talks; and when you believe, God works.
