On Wednesday I posted a Tweet that read, “A TSA agent just collapsed in my arms crying when she found out I ministered to teens. She has a wayward grandson. We prayed right there.” It must of struck a nerve because there was a lot of chatter about it afterward.
It got me to thinking about all of the hurting people who pass by us every day without us recognizing them as God-given opportunities.
In John 4, Jesus was exhausted from a long journey. He sat down by the well in the heat of the day.
Then there she came…the Samaritan woman.
As she walked toward Jacob’s well, Jesus didn’t look at her as a means to an end (getting him a drink of water) but as the end. He used the pretext of asking her for a drink as an opportunity of giving her a drink of the Living Water.
Jesus, the Master Evangelist, saw people through the lenses of compassion. He loved them deeply and saw past smiling facades into broken hearts. He used questions to shatter cultural and religious barriers. He healed them at their point of felt need so that he could heal them at their point of true need.
The TSA agent who spoke to me on Wednesday was an obvious opportunity to minister. She started the conversation by asking me what the words on my T-shirt meant, “Dare 2 Share.” I simply answered her question and she began to weep.
But how many opportunities do I miss when the situation is not so blatantly obvious? How many do we miss?
“Lord, teach us to read faces, expressions and those non-verbal cues of spiritual need. Show us how to look past the smiling facades of strangers, neighbors, family and friends and gaze straight into hurting hearts. Give us the eyes of Jesus and show us how to engage those people we meet everyday with the hope of the Gospel. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
