Get Over Yourself...

...Yea, so for this post I am going to give a disclaimer, not because it will be offensive, rather it will require you to think of someone other than yourself.  Uh-oh, that sentence alone may have cost me a reader.  *Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be from your perspective, it is meant to encourage you to see another person’s need.* For some this may be hard, as you are not used to this vantage point; however, read on, the observation from this perspective may be enlightening. 

Last week I asked a question, “Have we as a society become so desensitized to one another that we are clueless when one among us is silently crying?”  Unfortunately, I believe the answer is a resounding yes.  We have become so engulfed in ourselves that DAILY we fail to see the hurt which surrounds us, sometimes as close to us as the ones we love.  We fail to see that so many people are suffering from a hurt, which at times, seems so unbearable they don’t want to breathe.  Many people are walking around with broken hearts searching for a repair shop, only to be given ‘shotty’ service and in need of additional repairs.  These people are stumbling through their daily lives screaming; ‘Help!’ yet no one hears them or even seems to care. 

Why can’t we hear their cries? Why are their shouts going unheard?  How is it that drugs, alcohol, prostitution, violence, murder (need I go on) hear their cries before we do… as their friends, their family, their co-workers, their sisters and brothers in Christ (oh, I won’t go there)… Could it be that we (yes, I include myself because I am the first partaker) are too consumed with ourselves and our personal agendas to care enough to GENUINELY ‘love our neighbors as ourselves’.  Oh, it is easy to say, in hindsight, what we could have done or should have done but the question is what did we do, what are we doing?  

Are we too busy to lend an ear when someone needs to speak what is on their mind and in their heart, without being distracted by our phones, e-mails and numerous social media sites?  Can we be quiet long enough to hear when we are being instructed to help another?  Furthermore, will it break our pride to smile and/or say good morning to a passer-by in an effort to brighten their day?  And why does it seem as though giving a compliment or encouraging word to another person is like pulling a lion’s teeth? For that person who is hurting, if they were offered a smile, a simple ‘It will be alright’ or an interest in their well-being may be their end result could have been different.  May be they would have spoken with their mouth instead of a gun or the lower extremity of their body. Today I challenge you and I tell me – “GET OVER YOURSELF, LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!”

Let’s put our personal agenda on the shelf for a moment and help someone else, in helping them we ultimately help ourselves.  Proverbs 11:25 from the Message Bible reads – “The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.”  While, our desire to help others should derive from doing what is good and pleasing to the Father, isn’t it awesome to know that in the process WE are blessed too!   The two ears we have that allow us to hear are put to better use when we lend them to listen to the hearts of others, than if we only stop them up in an effort to isolate ourselves from the world around us. 

While we cannot solve every problem on our own and every situation will not be worked out with our hands alone, there is ONE who is able.  So after you have stepped out of your comfort zone to allow your ears to be the sounding board for the concerns of another, take it to the Lord in prayer. “Father God, I can’t, but you are more than able to work things out for their strength and your glory. Thank you God for using me as an earpiece, now on their behalf, I give their situation to you and ask that you have your way. In Jesus’ Name.”

Very simple!

You may never know the impact your time and prayer had on another person’s life but God knows.  Your acts of genuine love and kindness go further than the eye can see.  So from this day forth may our hearts be sensitive to the needs of others and our ears attentive to the voice of God, as He enables us to get over ourselves, so we can get to helping others. 

kRbz