The Power of Being There – Impact Series Part 4

There are lots of ways our we can positively impact others with our lives, and one of the most powerful ways is just by being there. A few years ago I wrote this account of someone being there for me.  When I ran across it the other day, it blessed me all over again. I hope it does the same for you.

I was visited by Jesus yesterday.

I was in pain—physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually. So frustrated in my sin and hypocrisy, so much in need. I called a friend, a friend in whom Christ dwells. She came without question. Well, she had to make sure she had a car, but once she did, she came. She brought a simple dinner for my family, stuck it in my fridge, and followed pitiful red-eyed me out onto the back porch. She sat opposite me, inviting me to speak, her body turned toward me, her eyes full of compassion.

And she listened.  As I ranted, cried, read to her, sharing my darker side, the one I carefully cover up most of the time, she reflectively, lovingly listened.

She wasn’t glancing at her watch, shifting her weight, tapping her toe. She didn’t preach, or take over the conversation, or tell me what the problem was and how to fix it or turn the focus away from me and toward herself. She simply concentrated all of her attention on me, her warm accepting eyes reflecting my concern, occasional humor, and pain.

Once all my words were spent, with wads of damp Kleenex scattered around me, I asked her to share whatever insights she might have on all I had told her. She paused. She was probably praying as much as thinking in that brief silence. I asked again. As she spoke, she blessed me yet again—this time with her honesty.

Her words were kindly said, but a bit hard to hear. Reassuring, and also penetrating. They offered an honest perspective on my pain, and how I might move forward. She wrapped up by saying “I don’t know what if anything I said is from God, or if it is just my own thinking.  My prayer is that you will remember the ‘God’ part, and forget the ‘me’ part.”

I’m sure she said some very wise insightful things, but that is not what I remember about that day. For me, the biggest “God part,” the part that still sticks with me, was the gift of my friend’s presence.  Her unhurried listening. Her sincere words. Her assurance of acceptance and love after knowing a little more of my ugliness.

The biggest impact my friend had on me that day was just her being there. That was the real “God part.”

Don’t miss the other posts in this series:

Part One: The Impact of a Life – You Never Know

Part Two: The Impact of an Attitude

Part Three: The Impact of Saying “Thank You”

Part Five: The Power of Acceptance