SEE A NEED...MEET A NEED

SEE A NEED…MEET A NEED

It is not too often that I take the time to brag on my kids. I am so very proud of them. Sure, they do things that frustrate me; but overall, they consistently prove to me that they are good kids and that their momma has done a great job raising them. Those of you with older kids may be thinking to yourself that I need to just wait, my time is coming. I know that there will be times in all of my children’s lives that they will make the wrong decisions and be unwise; but, for right now, I will take the joy that they are bringing to me. Tuesday morning, I had the privilege of leading the music at the Teasley Middle School FCA. Taylor Anderson played the guitar, Wade (my oldest son) played the djembe, I sang and Chris Page led the bible study. It was a great time of worship with primarily 7th graders. Following the worship time, I was walking down the hall with Wade, when we met one of his teachers. Every Tuesday morning this year, Wade has been bringing breakfast to this teacher. She commented to me that she loved Wade, not realizing that I was his father. Then, Wade told her that I was his dad. Later, she met me down the hall and wanted to tell me about Wade. I always get nervous when a teacher wants to talk to me about one of my children. She proceeded to tell me how much she loved having Wade in her class. She has been through a lot personally this year, and she told me that when everything around her was dark, Wade was the bright spot in her day. She always knows that her spirits will be lifted up by Wade. It is so cool to hear that Wade saw a need that he could meet and did just that. Wade could relate to everything his teacher has gone through this year. Instead of sitting back and not reaching out to his teacher, he took the initiative to minister to her. That is what we, as a church and as people of God, should be about. We should be looking at the needs around us and stepping out to meet those needs. It may be as simple as a smile or a hug.
Do we have a biblical example to look at? Open up the Word and you will read story after story of how Jesus saw a need and met it. The story that sticks out the most to me is the death of Lazarus. In this story, Jesus met numerous needs. The very first need that he met was comfort for Mary and Martha. Jesus saw that they were hurting and assured them that Lazarus “will rise again (John 11:23).” He showed compassion for, and was moved by the sorrow of Mary and Martha over the loss of their brother. It was at this time that some of the crowd began questioning Jesus’ power. “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying (John 11:37)?” It was at this point that Jesus met the need of Lazarus by raising him from the dead. After the crowd saw this, “many of the Jews…put their faith in Jesus (John 11:45).” Their need for salvation was met. All throughout Jesus’ ministry, He was meeting the needs of the people around Him. What about you? What about me? Do we have our spiritual blinders on or do we have our spiritual eyes open to the needs around us? When you see someone in need, as Wade did, just reach out and change their life.

Aaron Hodges