“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NAS)
Are you one of the many hurting souls who feel adrift and disconnected from life around you? Author and speaker Thelma Wells has written about throwing out the lifeline. She writes, “Do you ever feel like you’re bobbing along in a life raft on life’s seas while everyone else is safely aboard the luxury liner in the distance? Many feel like they are drifting and alone. They long for the camaraderie and security they perceive others are enjoying, but unless someone from the cruise ship throws them a lifeline, they feel like they might just drift away into oblivion. Many feel alone and insecure, even insignificant. Is there a voice that can assure them, “I’m here to help you. Hold on! We’re gonna get you out of that raft and on board with us?” She goes on to say that they need someone, “who will calm them, comfort them, communicate with them, be concerned about them, be committed to them, be compassionate toward them, be contagious with positive messages and confront them with love.”
How vital and important that there be someone who takes action and responds to the desperate cry for community and connection. There are many different reasons why people may find themselves separated, alone, alienated and adrift but the solution for them all is that someone will take the time and effort to throw out that lifeline and give them hope of being rescued from floating all alone.
“The ones who take our breath away are those who wholeheartedly show us the love of Christ when they risk coming aboard our boat in the midst of thrashing white caps and violent lightning strikes that threaten our very existence.” –Patsy Clairmont
Reflections on ADRIFT
God built us to be connected to each other and to Him. We are “wired” that way by our Creator. Everyone longs for their existence, feelings, and needs to matter to other people. Everyone needs to be affirmed, especially when they are hurting and extremely stressed by life. Sometimes, more than anything, people just need to be acknowledged. We need to say and do things that let people know that they are important. We need to reach in to their hurts and be a listening ear. Often there is not anything we can do to fix their problems, but they just need to know that they matter. We need to be willing to invest time and energy in the lives of others. God often chooses to meet the needs of people through other people. Who needs to be acknowledged in your life today?
Prayer for the hurting person:
Lord,
Help this one who feels so isolated and adrift to know that they matter to You. Given them a sense of renewed importance and significance to You and to those in their life who matter to them. Convict someone to reach into their pain and give them a helping hand back into the fold of life, friendship and community with others. May Your Holy Spirit inspire them to know that they are influential in more lives than they realize, and that their words and actions have eternal impact in the lives of others.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayer for the helper:
Lord,
Help those who love the one who feels adrift to realize what is going on. Heighten their sensitivity to the hurts that are there and help them to be willing to give of themselves to help this hurting one feel included and important. May they be willing to do whatever it takes to help the one who is hurting to rejoin those around them. Convict them when they are selfish and give them a desire to help others as they would want others to help them in a similar situation.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
