CARING ENOUGH

I Was Just Thinking About – CARING ENOUGH.

One of the significant advertisements was a constant reminder by Hallmark Greeting Card Company – “When You Care Enough To Send The Very Best.” To be a person who “cares enough” is a wonderful privilege to demonstrate that care – not just with loved ones, family and friends – but in an extended way to those who have fallen through the cracks of life or who have been more forgotten than remembered.

I recall a couple of events where I am not certain of the emotional impact one was experiencing when I stopped by to visit. In a hospital room, I visited with an elderly lady who just beamed with gladness when she saw me and I held her hand. She had reverted back to her native language (German) and it proved to be a visit where there was a physical presence but a non-verbal communication prevailed. She was speaking and I could not verbally reply. When I was ready to leave her room, she grasped my hand more firmly and beamed more broadly. It was an incident where “caring enough” was just being there – holding her hand, smiling, and sharing in English some Scripture which she seemed to understand.

There is an important instruction about “caring enough” shared by Paul when he wrote to Timothy – I Timothy 5:3-4 (NLT) – “Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.” I wonder about how many – caught up in the culture of our day – pause to think about more than a brief phone call or visit and show “caring enough” to the one or ones who did their best to care for them. Somehow, there needs to be the both/and approach to this whole privilege and opportunity of “caring enough.”

Even at this juncture in my life when it would be nice to experience the “caring enough” of others, there remains the sense of Scripture that emphasizes the need to keep on “caring enough” for others. In James 1:27, is another basic instruction, “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (our pernicious culture).”

Another incident involved a person who had been very active and highly capable in most endeavors he undertook. He came to a point where he was in a Hospice Facility. This “manly” man appreciated that I held his hand and shared with him some promises of God, and prayed for him. He, however, interrupted a time or two by asking: “What did I do wrong? Why am I here? What did I do wrong?” I tried to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong. He was there for his own well-being but that fact is not always easy to accept.

Hebrews 6:10-11 (NLT) reminds us, “God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and shown your love to Him by CARING for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will KEEP ON LOVING OTHERS as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope will come true.” Can you say that you model what it means to show others your “caring enough” commitment? This is a case that entails something more than what you do but who you are. Being there is the best way to show that you are “caring enough” in Jesus’ name.

All of us know widows, orphans, those who are overlooked, some who are unwanted, unneeded, insignificant and uncared for. You can make a difference in a multitude of ways to a cross-section of people. Why not be one who demonstrates “caring enough” for those who need to know that someone cares – and you are that someone? Can you do it? Will you do it? Jesus has loved and cared for you – can you share that possibility toward and for others? Please answer affirmatively and begin to tirelessly “care enough” to do your very best!

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.