Experiences in Outreach

Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Puddle Of Tears

Each Monday afternoon, the church sets aside a certain amount of money for financial assistance to those who are not members of Central. In most cases we are not able to solve all of their financial problems, but we do get the opportunity to help a little bit and more importantly, show them the love of Jesus through refreshments, conversation, and prayer.

A little over a week ago, a young woman, after waiting her turn, came into my office and said she was needing some assistance in getting her birth certificate. She further explained to me that she was four days clean from drug use and that she had been living a life of prostitution for quite some time, until child protective services took custody of her children. In order to start the process of getting her children back, she was going to have to change the way she was living and establish a stable home for her kids. The first step in that was getting her birth certificate.

As I was doing the paperwork to fund her request, she asked if I would pray that God would give her the strength to make the changes in her life and bring her kids back to her. I reached across the desk and held both of her hands and began to pray. As I prayed, I began to hear sobbing which is not that unusual. What I was not prepared for was after completing the prayer, I looked up and her head was still bowed with a puddle of tears on my desk. This young woman with her extraordinary volume of tears reminded me of the woman in Luke 7 who came to Jesus broken, washing his feet with her tears.

I don't recall the scriptures indicating if this woman continued living a changed life, nor do I know if the young lady in my office will continue her resolve for a life change, but they both came to the Christ broken and full of tears. One came to Him in person and the other through prayer.

What a privilege to see the same Christ in 2008 as He was nearly 2000 years ago.