“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Hebrews 13:2

Ready or Not

Recently, it came to my husband’s and my attention that someone we know was suddenly going to need a place to stay. I guess I should have been a little more happy to help, but I thought I knew just what that would entail, and it wasn’t gong to be pretty. I thought to myself, well, I should be a little more hospitable. What would Jesus do in this scenario? After all, He is our role model.

It’s not that I’m completely anti-social or rude, but hospitality hasn’t come easy for me, and I’ve had to rely completely on the Lord’s help so many times. I even joined a hospitality team at church to glean a few pointers from these amazingly gracious women of God. Thankfully, I’ve gotten somewhat better at reaching out to others over the years.

But somehow, I still wasn’t prepared for the terrible feeling I had about hosting this person for a period of time. To be honest, I felt like I was going to the guillotine, and that’s no joke. But, ready or not, the company arrived.

I did my best to try to make him feel comfortable. After all, he was out of his element also—uprooted, thrown into our home and our ways. This really shouldn’t have been about me at all, but interestingly, the Lord uses every situation to work on many different fronts.

It reminded me of some of the short mission trips I went on years ago, that same feeling inside of being “out of my element” with a big side of panic. It’s that “sink or swim” phenomenon, when thrown into something you feel ill-equipped to handle. To be honest, on one outreach, I even ducked into an outhouse crying my eyes out to the Lord, screaming “I CAN’T DO THIS!” Exactly.

Sometimes, the Lord allows us to get to that point, where fear, dismay, and looming disaster all collide into one big avalanche and there’s no way out, except—you guessed it, faith and trust, the two twins of following Jesus. Without those two things propelling us, we’re just treading water in our own strength.

It seems that each believer has their own tipping point, and what causes such dismay to one, may be a piece of cake to another. But Jesus knows, and time and time again, we will come to the realization He’s teaching us the fine art of “dying to self.” Ouch.

Well, by the time our company left, I’m pretty sure my “self” was now  good and dead; I was plum exhausted and worn to a frazzle. But somewhere, deep down in my gut, there was this little glimmer of joy trying to reach the surface—hmm, I think Jesus was smiling. And that was worth everything.

Dear Jesus, we so often try to run from the things that turn out to be the most beneficial and rewarding. Forgive our weakness and fill us with Your Spirit so we can truly be Your hands and feet. Thank You for Your patience and grace. Amen.