Kindness Stops the Bleed

With so much pain and adversity in our world, what can one person do? I have met many people who no longer watch the nightly news on television because everything seems so negative. School shootings no longer shock the population. Children are abused and die at the hands of their caregivers. Businesses are robbed. People are arrested. Natural disasters destroy entire communities. And the list goes on . . .

During Bible study one evening, someone said, “It feels like our whole world has gone to hell. When is God going to do something?”

The room became eerily quiet as we pondered this statement. After silence held the room captive, these words broke the absence of sound as they floated into the expectant air. “Yes, how sad this is because this isn’t God’s fault. We need to stop waiting for God to do something. God is waiting for us. When are we going to bring Heaven to earth?”

As Christians, we have Heaven living within us. We have the privilege of sharing this in both big and small ways each day. Ministry and evangelism don’t have to come solely in the form of teaching and preaching. Christianity isn’t just for Sundays. Being the hands and feet of Jesus, showing kindness in small ways, providing acts of service—these are ways we can bring Heaven to earth and shift the Supernatural realm.

Daily simple acts of kindness:

• Smile

• Put change in a vending machine for a stranger to find

• Leave a note of encouragement in a library book

• Return your shopping cart

• Allow someone to go ahead of you in line

• Buy coffee for a stranger

• Pay for someone’s order in the drive-thru

• Take treats to the fire station or police station

• Hold the door open for someone

• Be patient when something takes longer than expected

• Donate money to a favorite charity

• Volunteer

• Visit an elderly neighbor

• Shovel a neighbor’s sidewalk

• Donate socks and supplies to the homeless shelter

• Tell someone in customer service how great their service was

• Leave positive chalk messages on the sidewalk

• Donate clothing

• Send a card to a service member

• Leave a thank-you note for your mail carrier

• Give sincere compliments

• Refrain from gossip

• Visit your grandparents

• Forgive

• Pick up litter

• Buy movie tickets for the people in line behind you

• Offer to pick up groceries for someone

• Send a letter to a good friend instead of a text

• Bring snacks for your coworkers

• Offer to snap a photo for a couple/family

• Offer your services at no charge

• Leave a generous tip for your waiter

• Mentor a young person

• Serve at your church

• Hold the elevator for someone

• Tutor a struggling student

• Take time to listen to someone

• Pay someone’s overdue lunch account at school

• Start a community garden

• Drive someone to church

Random acts of kindness do make a difference. Something that may seem small or insignificant to you could change the course of someone’s life.

Imagine feeling all alone and abandoned. You cry out to God, “I just can’t do it anymore. What’s the point? I keep trying and nothing changes. I just can’t seem to catch a break. God, I pray to you and it’s like you aren’t even there. Where are you, God?”

You drive up to your local coffee shop and order your regular beverage as you pull up in the drive thru. The barista smiles at you as she hands you your medium vanilla latte. Only this time, she hands you a little note and says that your beverage has already been paid for by the woman in the car ahead of you. You are puzzled at first. You weren’t paying any attention to the car in front of you and that woman has already driven away. Hmmm . . .

You smile back at the barista and your heart smiles a bit, too. You round the corner as you leave the drive thru. Before pulling out into traffic, you open the note and read what it says.

"It is 6:30 AM, so you can see I am writing this before I even go to the coffee shop. Your order is on me today. I don’t know what you will order or what it will cost me. It really doesn’t matter. I only know that The Lord told me to pay for the person behind me today. I hope it makes you smile. We don’t know each other; but God is thinking about you this morning. He wants you to know that He loves you and thinks you are amazing! Have a fabulous day!"

You break down in full blown sobbing. God is SO good. He is present in our loneliest hours, and He just showed up today in the form of a vanilla latte and a sweet note from a stranger.

Kindness stops the bleed, and your car is filled with angels singing Hallelujah.

Always talk to God. Do not be afraid to ask him the tough questions. Be relentless.