It Is Never Useless

"For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless." 1Thessalonians 3:5

We of the faith, need to stay connected with each other. Paul is concerned about the Thessalonians. So much so that he sends Timothy to encourage and strengthen them. Have you ever had that nagging feeling like Paul had when he could stand it no longer, wondering and worrying how someone is doing in the Lord? Please, please respond to that urging from the Holy Spirit and reach out to that person in some way.

We too often have worthy motivations to find out how someone is doing and don't follow through. I know I am guilty of this. Across many years and several ministries we have come in contact with thousands of people and of course cannot keep track of how everyone is doing, but.... when the Spirit prompts us to check on someone, we should respond. Who knows, maybe they are being tempted or facing a trial in their lives. If we don't we may fear that all our other efforts were useless. If Paul is convicted about this, I think I can be also.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of who all I could reach out to on any given day. But in response to this impossible task I must not shut down and do nothing. I have to differentiate between touching base with too many people and responding to that urgency that God brings about touching the life of someone in particular. I cannot do everything I think of, but I should not avoid all of it. So easy to do nothing rather than make a decision about what to do.

Who is on your heart today? Who keeps coming across your mind? Who is God wanting you to reach out to or touch? You like me probably fear opening up the floodgate of whatever that could lead to, but if indeed He is leading we should not fear. So today, touch someone with kindness that keeps returning to your heart. You don't have to take them on vacation with you, just a note, a brief call, an email or even a "poke" (facebook jargon for letting someone know you thought of them). There are countless ways to reach out and show that you care or are praying for folks.

I sure hope the tempter is not after the people I love today. Being a human, or especially a Christian one, is not easy. We all need a lot of strengthening and encouragement. I am gonna do this some more, in my family, where I work, where I live, as I am out and about, and online. Hope you do too. So if I "poke" you know that He and I love you and were thinking about you and praying for you.

With His Joy,
Pastor Fred

Tweet