A Cry for Help

I have been blessed with some wonderful opportunities to serve others this past week. It has been my experience that I learn more through seeking to help others than I ever could by seeking to help myself. Service is the vehicle through which we come to know Christ in ways that intellect cannot grasp. It is how we come to know his nature and character, "For how knoweth a man the Master whom He has not served and who is a stranger unto Him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" It follows that one understand that to serve another is to serve the Master, for as He has declared, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
This past week, I have had the opportunity to help several people, both close to me and some I have never known. Each of them, despite their various situations, needs, and yearnings, seem to share one commonality, they all seemed to cry out for help, and through the blessings of the Holy Spirit, I was given the opportunity and privilege to help each of them.
I was leaving Wal-Mart late one night this past week with a phone glued to my ear, when a woman called out to me "Sir! Sir! Can you help us?" I ended my call and asked her what was wrong. Then, with a desparation that touched my heart, she explained that her grandmother was very sick with a heart illness, and that they were unable to purchase her prescribed medication because they had no money. Her voice was filled with worry and panic as she explained that her grandmother could have a heart attack if she didn't get the medicine soon. I looked to a dear sweet elderly woman sitting in the car with an oxygen mask, and my heart was filled with a pure compassion toward them. I reached for my wallet and explained that I had little to give because of my own financial situation, but gave all that I had, which brought us to $10 short of what was needed. I asked how long they had been asking for donations, and she replied that they had been there for more than an hour and had received nothing. I expressed that I wished I could do more and then felt great satisfaction as I realized that I could. I turned to them and said, "Well, I'm a salesman." I then collected the remaining money in about five minutes. It was interesting that I could tell before I asked someone if they would donate or not. Anyhow, as I brought them the last donation to pay for the prescription, the granddaughter gave me a big hug, and then, her grandmother struggled to open their van door and with great emotion gave me a hug in expression of her gratitude. Experiencing true happiness, I walked away with a greater understanding and appreciation of our Savior's love.
This experience was one of many that I have been blessed with in serving others in recent days. I do not share them in seeking recognition, but rather in humble recognition of the wonder and majesty of God's love which He allows each of us to experience as we seek to serve him by serving others. Of all that I have done, of any accomplishment or endeavor of which I have had success, the greatest joy that I have known has had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with reaching out and lifting others. I have learned through these experiences, that both our Father and Heaven, and His Beloved Son, recognize, and comprehend with an infinite understanding a cry for help. I think of Jesus as He lay prostrate in the Garden, and pled with His Father, "If thou be willing, remove this cup from Me." A Son in unrelieved stress, a Father filled with compassion, stayed the course, and made it through the night together. And then, those most heart wrenching words ever uttered by mortal man, were exclaimed by the Savior on Golgotha, "Eloi! Eloi! Lama sabachteni! - That is to say, My God, My God, why hast though forsaken me?!" The Father did not answer His sinless son's request for help, because He was in that moment, answering the desparate cries for help that man had or would ever utter. This act, accomplished by both the Father and the Son, must serve as the paragon to which each of us must look as we seek to learn of that love which never dies, even that love which passes all understanding. They know when their children need help, and they will bless us with the opportunity to come to know them, their true character, as we respond to the gentle promptings and whisperings of the Spirit, to help those that we come in contact with. I saw that need in the eyes of one I had never known in this life, standing outside the doors of Wal-Mart. I felt that joy, and seek to feel it forever more as I devote my time and talents to serving those around me.