Free To Be Me

I have asked God many times to help me hear, see and be more mindful of people around me. So often in the past, I missed an opportunity to pray with someone or speak encouragement when I saw a need. I had let time, inconvenience and the fear of failure or embarrassment keep me from doing what I knew I should do.

One day as I parked in front of the pharmacy, I noticed a woman standing outside, looking very sad. I recognized her as a store employee who had waited on me before. I went on in and made my purchases, knowing that I needed to take the time to stop and ask her if she was okay. My heart began to race. She was still standing there when I exited. I thought, If I don’t make eye contact with her, I can walk right on to my car.

That’s when I recognized the condemning words of the enemy telling me I had no business trying to minister to her. Although I had given ear to the enemy’s whisperings so many times before, at that moment I stopped. God would not let me pass her by.

As I approached the employee, I looked her straight in the eye and asked what was wrong. She began to cry and share with me some serious needs in her family. Her daughter was ill, and her husband had lost his job. When she asked her boss if she could take off work to get her daughter to the doctor, he had become upset with her. Within minutes I realized that this woman wasn’t looking to me for all the answers to her problems. She just needed someone to care about her and listen to her aching heart.

I wept with her and then did something that had never come easily for me in the past, especially in a public place. I joined hands with her and prayed for her. She thanked me, and we went our separate ways. The next time I saw her, she smiled and thanked me again. She said the fact that I had taken time to pray with her had helped her so much.

Now when I see a person in need, I start the conversation. I let the person know I care and Jesus cares. I do not only say, “I will pray for you,” but I really do. As I see God use this boldness, a gift from Him, to touch someone with His love, I am so joyful.

Whenever I was forced into an unfamiliar setting earlier in life, fear screamed for me to stay where I was comfortable…where my small circle of people and situations were in my control. But that’s when I had to tell the enemy that I would no longer listen. Instead, I had to choose to hold tightly to God’s hand and step out in His confidence.

Getting confidence came from discovering that I could hear God’s voice—that God Himself wanted to talk to me, not just to “special people like church leaders. In my prayer time I would spend long periods just being quiet, listening to His heart and thoughts toward me. He helped me understand that I would be uncomfortable at times, and that was okay. However, He assured me He would help me keep taking small steps until I could feel comfortable doing what He asked me to do.

If we open our minds and hearts, His words will have an amazing effect on our inner selves. They will affect our attitude, confidence, joy, health and relationships. And, through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, the power of those life-changing words is available to anyone who chooses to seek a personal relationship with Him.

When I look back, I realize that for much of my life I had the cart before the horse. I thought I could persuade God to love me if I obeyed Him enough and did enough good things. Now I understand that grace doesn’t cancel our duty to obey Him, but accepting His unconditional sacrifice gives our obedience a new basis of operation. The law of God is no longer just an external set of rules, but a law that sets us free.

My prayer is that you, too, will be able to turn your heart and mind toward God unconditionally. If you do, you will discover the reality of the joyous promise in John 8:32: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Betty Robison is co-host of LIFE TODAY. She and James will be talking about a special kind of freedom this Friday. Adapted from Free to Be Me by Betty Robison.