Being There by John Gann
Everywhere Jesus went and everything He did was about God working His kingdom work in the life of people. He healed. He preached. He forgave sins, but sometimes He was just there. In Matthew chapter 9 there is a great story that illustrates this. No healing. No preaching. No miracles. He just sat down to eat a meal. Yet His response to the religious crowd, who asked why He would do such a thing as eat with sinners, was this. “I am calling those who are sick and need to be healed.” What an important lesson for us, that although we desire to see God in action, and we should; there are times that the only thing we need to do is just be there in the life of someone else. That alone may be God’s call. Their pain may be mental, emotional, or physical. Their disappointment may be from a broken marriage, a hurt from another Christ follower, or the death of a treasured friend or family member. They may be experiencing Post Traumatic Stress as the result of childhood abuse, or they may simply be a stubborn rebellious sinner.
I recently had a being there moment. I read a friend’s Facebook post that concerned me. I have known this man for about 15 years but we haven’t communicated on a regular basis for over a decade. It was obvious he was in pain and crying out for help. I thought, “I must send him a message.” I did. We’ve been texting, Facebook messaging, and calling since then. One day he called, and I couldn’t answer. I sent a quick text, “I’m in a meeting.” That was it. He called me that night and said, something like “I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to send me that reply. I know you’re busy. It just meant a lot for you to take time to send a short reply.” At the end of the conversation he said something like, “Love you, man.” I thought, “I really didn’t do anything.”, but to him, “I’m in a meeting” was a being there, moment. I’ve already seen a shift in his attitude, and his hunger for a renewed fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.
Not only do we carry out the ministry of being there, in some ways all of us could stand to receive it as well. If that’s you, feel free to contact me or anyone at JSN. We are really trying to learn and practice the art of being there. Won’t you join us?