A Woman Died

A woman I know died this week.

Though she was a few years younger than me, she looked my mother’s age.

 

She used to come into the food pantry I served.

I’d tried talking to her a time or two – but she didn’t seem to want to interact.

 

I saw the signs – haunted, darting eyes, gaunt face.

I recognized the smell on her clothes and the sores on her face.

 

She was a meth addict.

 

She was also someone’s mother; someone’s daughter.

 

She was caught up in a hell of her own making.

 

For whatever reason, she never broke free.

 

Now, she’s dead – a victim of her own bad choices.

 

As much as I hated her bad habit, I can’t point a finger.

I have bad habits, too.

Private sins I hide from the world – sins of judgement, impatience, and pride (among others).

 

I wonder – when the typical Christian passed her on the street did they see a pathetic addict who’d thrown their life away?

Or – did they see a woman in desperate need of rescue by a risen King who loved her immeasurably?

 

It is so easy to look at someone and label them by their sin – adulterer, drunkard, gambler, liar, addict.

 

What if instead we looked past their most obvious flaws and saw the person?

No judgement – no prejudice – just love and concern for a life off-track and void of Him.

Wouldn’t that be a better place to start?

 

Then maybe we could begin to understand them and their needs.

If we did that then we could reach out a hand and hopefully help them climb out of their mess and into a relationship with Jesus.

Then maybe they could find His love and forgiveness and begin to piece their lives together through Him, just as we’re piecing ours together.

 

Wouldn’t that be a good and reasonable thing to do?

Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Isn’t that why we are here?

 

I don’t know that woman’s full story.

She only told me very small bits and pieces.

What I do know is that she desperately needed a Savior to rescue her from herself and her sin.

 

I don’t know what her heart was like – I don’t know if she ever trusted Christ for salvation.

I do know that she lived a tortured life here on earth and stepped into eternity struggling with her addiction.

 

How I hope the thousands of women like her will see God’s love for them and be brave enough to trust Him for their salvation.

How I hope they will trust Him to rescue them from their sin and self.

How I hope they will turn to Him and give Him their addiction and fight against it through Him and the power of His love.

 

As we go through our day, I pray we will see the unseen people, reach a hand out to them, and seek to lead them to the truth of God’s love.

Their eternal future depends on it.

 

 

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 (ESV)