Peace, Hope, and the Kindness of Friends

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” —Jeremiah 29:11–13, NIV

Because I was a stay-at-home mom, my husband and I depended solely upon his income. When he fell off the roof of a home he was renovating, losing the ability to work, we worried. Making matters worse, we had just moved into a new house with a large mortgage. And then, one day, they came. One carried a fifty-pound bag of rice, another a bag of oats. Still others brought sacks of groceries, and finally, some handed us cards with cash and checks enclosed. Our friends had thrown a surprise housewarming party.

Our friend Charlie gave us a $4,000 check, which paid our mortgage until my husband could work again. God had moved upon the hearts of our friends to lighten our burdens. What if, instead, He had sent a text message, saying, “Sorry for your hardships. Praying for you”? God knows that life is hard. He lived here for a time, and He suffered through the most painful experience a human can endure—death on a cross. Yet this God, who bore the ultimate pain, has empathy for our pain. And so, He sends us tokens of His love in the little things of life: that ray of sunshine on a tear-stained face, that perfect piece of fruit so sweet we cannot help but thank Him, and that random act of kindness from a stranger. Every earthly blessing is a message of love from God, signed with the cross of Christ. Those blessings fall upon the just and the unjust because God loves every one of us as His very own child. Think of three things you normally take for granted. Speak them out loud right now, thanking God for each one.

Dear Giver of all good gifts, not because we deserve these blessings, but because You love us, we receive them with open, grateful hearts.

Help us step away from our constant striving for worthiness into the realm of gift receiving. Thank You for lending Your compassionate ear to our sorrows, Lord, for we have not always been compassionate to others.

Thank You for hearing our prayers because we do not always hear others.

Thank You for speaking hope into our lives, for we do not always speak hopefully to others. Help us to be more like You, Jesus. Amen.

Jennifer Jill Schwirzer