One-On-One Healers

As I look at my life, what I do, what I believe God has ordained for my life, I ask  “am I doing enough? Am I following the footsteps of Jesus? Am I making a difference at all in the world?” You see, I do not want to be a consumer of life. I want to give back and have an impact on the lives of the people I am honored to be around.

Have any of you ever asked these questions? Or is this just the over-thinking of introvert?

There seems to be such evil and suffering all around us – in our nation and nations crossing all ethnicities. There are people who take a stand socially, politically, denominationally. People whose names are in the newspapers and well known in their circle’s of profession. And I am left asking if we all should not be doing more? Shouldn’t more of our names be known as life-changers?

Yet I know God calls us each to something different. We can’t all be Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Bono, or Rick Warren. I have come to believe that the majority of us are called to be a “title” that keeps coming to mind for Myself.

One-on-One Healers.

In other words, we are called to be people who make a difference in One-on-One relationships. The young single mom next door. The struggling co-worker. The renegade line drawer in the family line of dysfunction.  The cashier at the store. The elderly man without a family.

A large portion of Jesus’ ministry was spent as a One-on-One healer. He changed people’s lives, one person at a time. He believed in them, accepted them where they were ‘today’. He encouraged and forgave them. He loved them. The woman at the well. Zaccheus in the tree. The blind beggar. He called the 12 disciples one-by-one, by name, to trust and follow Him.

One-by-One. Village-by-Village.

As I look through out scripture, there are many other One-by-One healers. Barnabass. Ruth. Naomi. As we read about them, they didn’t stand up to the government or start mega-churches. Yet, they changed the lives of individual people by encouraging, protecting, and believing in who the Other could be. They planted hope. They took the hand of the hurting and the hand of God and brought those two hands together. Introducing the hurting person to the Physician that could heal.

As I look back over my own ministry, I recall the many experiences that I have had the privilege to do the same. I may preach every week and plant some new information and even bring home or clarify within the audience. But the most treasured moments, the greatest healings, those experiences that make my heart smile are the people that I have stood in the gap for. Taking the hand of the hurting and bringing it together with the hand of Jesus. Introducing them. Temporarily representing Jesus’ love, grace, and mercy to a person desperately in need of their Savior.

So should I be doing more? Sure, most of us could step up to the plate more. However, I believe I am doing exactly what God has called me to do. Being exactly who God created me to be. A One-on-One healer who is not praying for a bigger platform but for a clearer vision to see individuals through the eyes of God. Brennan Manning writes “you are never more like Jesus then when you are chocked with compassion for the brokenness of others”.

 With that prayer, and my humble love of being a One-on-One Healer, I get the joy of introducing the broken to Jesus. And that’s the best title ever!