Beyond a beggar

by Jonathan Krause

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How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? (1 John 3:17)

Read 1 John 3:16–24

The lady was a widow and a beggar.

When I met her in a little village in remote Bangladesh, she showed me the handful of rice she’d begged for that morning. Then she gestured for me to sit down while she cooked it for us to share.

I’d come from one of the world’s richest countries, from a comfortable house, a beautiful family, and all of the things you and I take for granted as essentials – clean, fresh water at the turn of a tap, a supermarket full of endless food choices, electricity to keep us warm and cool and entertained.

This lady was a widow and a beggar.

I’d come to thank her. She had come into the aid agency with a few coins she’d gathered, and handed them over, demanding we use them to help ‘the poor people’.

Despite her own condition, she saw others in more need than herself and gave the little she had for them. What love!

I took her photo and shared her story back in Australia. A few months later, a 17-year-old girl wrote to me and told me how that widow beggar had changed her life. It inspired her to change her career choice, from a high-flying, high-paid legal job to a social worker so that she could help others.

When we reflect God’s love for us by extending it to others, we should never be surprised by the impact this love can have.

Working at ALWS, I’ve seen how it goes beyond the practical impact we may have on our ‘brother or sister in need’. The hope we can bring, the reassurance that someone cares – this can be inspiration for life.

So, if we choose not to help someone in need, while we may keep the money with which we’ve been blessed, we also miss out on the joy that comes when we bring love to life for others.

Just like so much of what Jesus teaches us, that can seem challenging or countercultural or simply go against our human instincts.

Yet I’ve learnt that loving our neighbour can be freeing, inspiring and an example to all those around us of what God’s love means in our lives.

Even if we are ‘only’ a widow and a beggar.

Jesus, your life shows me how I should live my life for others. Please give me your strength to do this, hold me to account when I don’t and keep showing me the joy when love comes to life. Amen.

Jonathan describes himself as a ‘happy husband, proud dad and grandad, ALWS worker and proud Magpie fan’.

Flea, flee or free?

by Jonathan Krause

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

… for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea (1 Samuel 26:20b).

Read 1 Samuel 26:5–25

Isn’t this just like yesterday’s reading? Two parties, far apart, one fearing the other, one brooding for revenge. Yet instead of the kind of bloodthirsty climax we’d expect if this were a Netflix show, a peaceable way forward is found.

Yesterday, it was Esau embracing and welcoming Jacob – Jacob was expecting to be the victim of what he likely thought was justifiable revenge for his act of trickery.

Today, it is David in a position to kill King Saul, who pursued David into the mountains in a fury of jealousy. Killing Saul would ensure David both safety and status … yet David holds back, knowing it would be going against God’s plan.

While David could have taken the opportunity to humiliate Saul, he instead humbles himself, calling himself a ‘flea’.

Could I do the same?

Is my trust in God complete enough that I will follow God’s command and plan? Even when my own human logic, my inbuilt desire for power and success, and the urging of those around me who see strength only in human terms, would lead me to do otherwise?

How hard it can be to be humble. Especially when we live in such a ‘Look-at-me’ world.

I think of social media influencers. Celebrities famous for being outrageous, rather than doing anything worthwhile. Footballers who kick a goal and then run to the boundary with their arms in the air, seeking the crowd’s acclaim, rather than turning to thank their teammates who did the hard work to make the goal possible.

Jesus shows us a different way.

In Philippians 2:8, we read that ‘Christ humbled himself and became obedient unto death’. Because Jesus has done that for us, we no longer need to fear being only a flea in the face of the world, nor do we need to flee the challenges and dangers it places before us.

Instead, Jesus has set us free. All we need to be is humble enough to trust.

Lord, sometimes it can be hard to place all my trust in you. My pride and confidence in my own powers get in the way. Sometimes the challenges I face seem too overwhelming, or I struggle to see you near me. Help me be humble enough to always place my trust in you in all ways. Amen.

Jonathan describes himself as a ‘happy husband, proud dad and grandad, ALWS worker and long-suffering Magpie fan’.

Sight for sore eyes

by Jonathan Krause

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

and then you will see clearly … (Matthew 7:5b).

Read Matthew 7:1–5

When I turned 50, I gave myself a gift. I’d saved for three years to afford to have my eyes lasered. In what seemed like moments, I could toss away the glasses I’d worn ever since I was 13. Glasses that needed to get thicker and more complex (and expensive) the older I got. I don’t remember the lasering hurting (apart from the hip-pocket), but it felt like a miracle.

Part of my working life was with an aid agency restoring sight in Africa through simple cataract operations. It was fascinating to watch the operations, often in remote villages in the poorest parts of the world, sometimes powered only by a car battery. I remember the joy as we peeled back the bandage, the patient slowly opened their eyes, and we saw the look of joy on their face as they realised they could see.

(Except for one old gentleman who hadn’t seen for 20 years. Through all that time, he had been cared for by his devoted wife. When his bandage was taken off, and he saw his wife for the first time in 20 years, he asked out loud, ‘Who’s this ugly old woman?’ Oh dear. It’s a wonder she didn’t give him two black eyes.)

It’s so easy for us to see the fault in others. To look at them and wonder why they did this, why they didn’t do that, and how could they?!

Too often, though, we fail to consider what might lie behind other people’s actions and the stories that have led them to do things we are quick to judge.

And how often do we fail to turn that mirror back on ourselves, to see how what we do may be hurting others?

There is an amazing liberation in having your sight restored. To see the world in all its true beauty. It’s not so lovely when you look at yourself, warts and all.

Yet, while that’s what God sees in looking at us – all the bits we try to hide away, cover up, ignore, defend and justify – somehow, God sees beyond that and loves us anyway. He sees a beauty in us that maybe we don’t when we hold ourselves in judgement.

Knowing God does that for us encourages us to do the same for others, no matter how tough that can sometimes be.

Let’s never lose sight of that.

Father God, thank you for letting me see you in Jesus. Help me be the person who helps other people see you, too. Amen.

Jonathan describes himself as a ‘happy husband, proud dad and grandad, ALWS worker and ever-hopeful Magpie fan’.