Friday, March 16, 2012

At The Feet

Since I have been in social work and ministry people ask me all the time how do I deal with the anger expressed by broken people who have no hope and who have limited themselves through self destruction and show it through abusive behavior in language and actions. My answer to them is that I look in the mirror and come to grips with my own personal depraved soul. I counsel them like Jesus counsels me. I use compassion dictated by tough love, guided by extra grace and covered with mercy. I meet them at the cross because that is where I am still at. I may have been at the cross a little longer but I still need to see his broken body and see the blood gushing from his side and look at his body in agony because then it will remind me too not to complain. I still need to see the people laughing at him and feel the weight of sadness and distress he is in so it can remind me that he did it all for me and that he would do it all for me again if needed. The fact is this when we minister to people all we are doing is putting our arms around them and reassuring them that his grace is really sufficient and his mercies are new everyday because we have been at the cross and needed to stay just as they will because only when we return to him in heaven will we be made whole so until then we must stay put at the feet of Jesus.