Devotional Messages

Proverbs 27:14 – Whoever blesses a neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.  (NRSV)

In the musical “Free to Be… You and Me” there is a clever little song with the refrain “some kind of help is the kind of help we all can do without!”  Perhaps you’ve been the recipient of this sort of assistance before.  Or perhaps you have unknowingly provided such help yourself.

The writer of this proverb suggests that the timing of our good deeds is just as important as our good intentions, and sometimes even more so.  It is so hard to remember that each person is on their own journey and that the moment that is most convenient for us may not be a good time for the person we want to aid.  The proverb-writer paints an amusing picture – anyone standing outside my house shouting early in the morning is definitely not going to be appreciated, no matter how nice the things they’re saying may be.

The other side of this story is that when we’re going through difficult times, our friends and loved ones do want to help, and they can’t read our minds.  The best remedy for help we don’t want or badly-timed assistance is honesty.  If we can just make the effort to state clearly what we need and when is the best time to stop by, much misunderstanding and irritation can be avoided.

What this comes down to is the importance of trying to put ourselves into other people’s shoes.  Before we push into someone’s life, we need to think through their situation and consider what issues we’ll need to be sensitive to.  Before we blow up at someone trying to help, we need to ask ourselves if we’ve shared enough to let them know how best to support us.  In any interaction, the more we can empathize with others, the better we’ll get along.

Collect for the Week:  Loving God, whose grace covers a multitude of mis-steps, grant that we might be patient and understanding with one another, that we might live in harmony, laughing with those who laugh and weeping with those who weep, offering a witness of love and peace to your world.  Through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Amen.