I recently watched an intriguing program on the Discovery Channel that highlighted some unique characteristics of the frozen Siberian Tundra. The Tundra, located at the top of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America, has only two seasons - winter and summer. In the winter, the temperature may reach as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the summer only brings hope of temperatures reaching 37 degrees.
As unimaginable as it would be to try to survive in such a climate, it is alarmingly true there are people within your sphere of influence, who feel their lives are constantly in a winter season. They have little to look forward to, and see no reason to believe that springtime is coming for them.
While there are many reasons why people feel this way, these wintry seasons of the soul are great opportunities for you and I as Christ-followers to enter their world, with a life-giving message of hope. What they need most of all is to experience the compassion, mercy, and love of God through us as we find ways to minister to them.
Here are a few practical ways you can help others have the hope of Spring:
- Ask yourself, "What need does this person have in his or her life that I can help?" Then go and meet that need. We like to call this "loving the lost in their language."
- Be there for them during the bad times. Perhaps there are some difficult circumstances that have contributed to the feeling that winter never ends. Make it a point to be a listening ear and friendly voice on the other end of the telephone or at their bedside.
- Offer to pray with them and for them by name. By praying for them while you are with them, it allows you to live out your relationship with Jesus in front of them and it could very well be the very first time they have ever heard their name mentioned in a prayer.
- Consider giving them a copy of Ron Hutchcraft's A Daily Word booklet. A Daily Word is insightful and relevant food for your soul, based on Ron's popular radio broadcast, "A Word With You."
- Continue to let the light of Jesus shine through your attitude, kindness, and mindfulness of their need for a Spring season to arrive.