The Body of Christ

This morning my heart is heavy, weighed down about many things. I know so many people that are unwell, that are facing a life threatening illness, or going through some kind of struggle. So many people, even within my own Church family who are carrying heavy burdens or grieving. As I prayed I cried and merciful Lord comforted me, by simply knowing in my heart 'He knows..He cares'.

I saw a lady at Church yesterday whom I hadn't seen for well over a year or more. She used to come to the womans group. As my own attendance at that group had been so irregular because of family commitments and my own health, I'd forgotten about this lady. We often drove past her house as it's on the main road and I thought to myself, maybe she no longer comes to our church or is away. She frequently travelled to England to help her family there. Then out of the blue I saw her yesterday, again at Church, and spoke to her while we were serving cups of tea.  I said to her "I haven't seen you in a very long time". She looked tired, and said she was very unwell all last year and hadn't attended services. She actually is headed to England again for a time. It's not like we were necessarily close, but she is still part of the body & a sister in Christ. It saddened me that I never heard her name mentioned, as someone who needed prayer or even a visit. Maybe she didn't want people to know. Maybe there was more to it? People often stop attending church for different reasons. Some through sickness, a disagreement, discouragement or disillusionment.

It got me thinking about how the body of Christ is such a mysterious thing. It's not something that can be numbered, its not even always visible. Many people are believers but don't attend a church, or are unable to for different reasons. That doesn't remove them from the body and Christ still knows who are His. Many people choose to go through struggles quietly. They may not want everyone to know. While I know some people seek attention through every possible means and shout to the world via social media every little thing going on in their life, others are more private. I don't know that one approach is necessarily better than the other. Scripture tells us in Galatians 6:2  'Carry each others  burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ'. How can we do this if we don't know?
So many of us suffer in silence. Many pray alone and never ask for prayer from the Church or don't want the body to know.

Often I pray for eyes to see and ears to hear the hearts that cry around me..but am I awake enough to listen and to act when I hear them? So in my prayer time this morning I was comforted only from the knowledge that the Lord already knows about all the needs, but still I wanted to intercede for them. I also repented that I'm often so consumed with my own life, family, health that I do forget about others, even though it's not intentional.

My prayer:

Dear Lord, 

help me to be more aware of others around me 

and especially who belong to the church body I meet with.

I want to heed the Holy Spirit's promptings when you place someone on my heart

especially who I haven't seen or heard from in a long time.

May I just do something. 

Please forgive me when I fall short. 

~

Help me to show grace even to myself knowing there will be people I forget.

Their will be people I just can't keep up with because my hands and heart are 

often full to over flowing, and my health and energy levels hinder me. 

~

But I know I can still pray for them, 

and I know you Lord will minister to their hearts in 

ways I cannot.

I know I can still write an encouragement note or phone them.

Those I can help -  help me to just do something and not be so self absorbed.

~

Right here in my own little world I am your hands and feet.

~

Thank you for hearing my prayer, my heart, merciful, compassionate Lord,

so full of grace. ~ Amen

To close this post, lease enjoy Lindsay's beautiful rendition of this old comforting song: His eye is on the Sparrow.

It's for anyone who may feel forgotten in this world,especially by their church body. God sees and He hears your cry.

Blessings and Christs love to anyone who stops by ~ Linda