Hands And Feet Of Christ

Hands and Feet of Christ

Your kindness will reward you.

As I hobbled across a parking lot early on a weekday morning, my prayer was more of a wave of strong emotion sent toward God rather than anything formal. And, on this day, I pulsed sadness at God.

My sciatic nerve had first twisted into excruciating pain during my pregnancies, and it has been an on-again, off-again presence in my life ever since. I’d had a painful flare-up three weeks previously, and here I was, limping slowly across the asphalt on the way back to my car, feeling immense sadness not only for my own pain but also for the pain of a friend facing an impossibly hard situation. Aaron and I had been helping in a variety of ways, none of which felt like enough, and we were heartbroken along with her.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

I turned toward the voice. A man I’d never met had noticed me, and his stride was eating up the ground between us faster than I could hobble away in humiliation. Head cocked to the side, he introduced himself as a pastor, and his next words were my undoing: “May I pray for you?”

I could not contain my tears as he gently prayed for my healing. Thanking him with a watery smile, I maneuvered carefully into my car and paused for a moment as the pain subsided. I know that God is capable of healing anyone, anywhere, in any way he wants. However, I also know that healing in the way we ask isn’t always his will—for a variety of reasons we don’t always understand this side of heaven. I whispered a soft amen as a still, small voice spoke clearly to my heart: Julie, don’t you think that I can take care of you even as you are taking care of those I love?

That parking-lot moment was the start of my healing. I immediately felt my hip start to unwind, and within a week I was back to full mobility. More importantly, those words God whispered to my heart have stayed with me. It’s when we are the hands and feet of Christ that our own needs are met in unexpected ways. It’s as we pour out kindness on others that God pours out kindness on us.

— Julie

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Be the hands and feet of Christ to a friend who has a need.