Effective 5/1/2024, this website will be redirecting tohttps://aurm.co.za/
What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?
— Micah 6:8 (NRSVUE)
When I was young and feeling sorry for myself — maybe I had been left out of a group, made a bad grade on a test, or felt someone had treated me unfairly — my mother would listen to my woes and then she would say, “When you’re feeling sorry for yourself, the best thing is to do something kind for someone else.” Though I would grumble about it, she was always right. That advice has stayed with me, and it has influenced the way I live my life and understand my calling as a follower of Christ.
In this issue, many writers describe challenging situations when hope was hard to hold on to and it was easy to despair. Despite the uncertainty caused by chronic illness, the loss of a job, financial insecurity, or grief, these writers held on to hope and found strength through prayer, Bible study, and often by showing acts of compassion to others. They remind us that as people of faith, we can be the hands and feet of Christ or the answer to someone’s prayer — the manna in the wilderness (see Ex. 16), the ravens who bring food (see 1 Kings 17:1-6).
Showing compassion and care when we are at our most vulnerable requires effort and courage. But when we do, we remind others of God’s faithfulness in all seasons, and we also remind ourselves that God will remain faithful to us. May we all find the strength to remember God’s faithfulness, to trust the hope that it offers us, and to share that hope with the world through our actions.