Kindnesses in Times of Trouble

There is no telling the power of the kind word aptly timed. More so the silent act of kindness ‘uttered’ powerfully far above the constraints of common reality.

Hardly conscionable is the fact of that time of deep distress — for whatever reason — that achieves with it the support that was needed ‘just in time’.

And yet, we’ve all known times when such help came, and most times inexplicably so. We put it down to the Lord (if we believe), sheer luck/fate or just to the sharp perception of another who knew us well and loved us in that moment with a selfless word or act — perhaps even for a whole season.

How this sense of being touched by another person — one who played that God-in-skin role for us — has made such a remarkable difference in and to our lives now.

‘Be’ That Person

This is a translucently simple message.

An open challenge to every human being alive is to wake with the fresh, though intentional, thought every single day: “Whom shall I help today?”

And, “How shall I look for the opportunity?”

One deed of kindness at the appropriate time for one person — be it a smile, the issue of grace, a gentle encouraging word, an invitation to dinner — is a golden moment of celebration in the heavens as the angels unite in God at seeing the will of the Father made known in the world.

Thousands of opportunities lay before us. Not even ninety percent of these opportunities, however, will even be perceptible. But they beckon still.

A Commanding Premise

Although the commandments of God are simply stated and are in one accord with the foregoing they still are never so natural for us.

We beat ourselves up too much in retrospect for missing golden opportunities when a commanding premise of God is nothing about condemnation for missed opportunities or ill-advised-at-the-time selfishness causing regret and remorse.

All we do then, instead, is look forward and ‘go’ again, God with us as we go.

The next opportunity to sow into the ever-appending flow of life and then the next... these are the issues of real consequence for us.

Don’t stop at failures to love. We instead look forward to the approach of the downcast soul — and the myriad form these take — and do whatever the God-instilled moment requires.

Then we go on, at harmony with the purposes of God.

Words or Actions

Words are not inferior to actions, for at times words are the action required. Still, most often our actions speak volumes beyond our words and silence-with-hands-and-feet to act is often the best reply.

Even very small things are of eternal importance.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.