We Don’t Need Another Crisis

When things happen to others everyone seems to want to reach out to help. When countries are hit with devastations, when families lose a loved one, or when people are in need for whatever reason, we all want to pitch in and do what we can. It is great we are people who care but why do some of us need a crisis to occur before we decide to help someone?

James 2:14-18 “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’”

Some look at issues in other countries and say our country needs help just as much as the others do, but what are we doing in our own areas? Are we just talking about things that are bad or are we doing something to make things better? People need our help every day with something. Our help is a way we can show God’s love to others. People need to see God’s love every day.

However, why is it that we have to have a crisis occur before we go to help someone? What is wrong with helping other people when there is no crisis? Yes, people are in greater need when something bad happens, but do we really only want to help when there is a crisis? Why can’t we be a good neighbor every day? People can always use a helping hand or a kind word. A situation that appears to be fine on the outside may be someone hurting on the inside.

Looking for opportunities to help every day for those who don’t seem to need our help will show them we are caring people. Taking time out of our schedule to listen to a friend, help a neighbor in their yard, start up a special project to raise money or spend a day helping our community will benefit us to meet other people and help them as well. It will help the community or the person and we will have an opportunity to share God’s word.

We don’t need another crisis to be God’s children and to help others. We need to look for opportunities to help every day within our own areas of life and outside our areas whether it is in other communities or other countries. There are people in the entire world who need just what God has placed on our hearts to do. If we react and help before the situation occurs, we may be able to steer it away.

Of course, when the crisis is as big as an act of nature, we can’t really foresee that; however, we can find out as much as we can about the issue and do what we can rather than just talking about it. We don’t need to put off helping someone when we can stop what we are doing and take a few moments to make a difference.

When we see a need, whether big or small, we need to take action. We need to pull from our faith in God and do what He asks us to do. Talking about it, hoping things will be okay or wishing someone well isn’t about action. Action is stepping in and allowing God to work through us so that we can make a difference for others and tell them about God. We need to show our faith by taking action.