For The Good Of Others

Some years ago, my husband received a phone call from a social worker in a neighbouring province: "Could you take your mother in?" I had recently returned to our home in rural Alberta, Canada, after visiting my mother-in-law in hospital … Read more

Matthew 16:25 – [Jesus said] "If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." (NLT)

Some years ago, my husband received a phone call from a social worker in a neighbouring province: "Could you take your mother in?" I had recently returned to our home in rural Alberta, Canada, after visiting my mother-in-law in hospital there. She was referred to endearingly as "Mother-Dear", a tongue-in-cheek nickname that her children had given her. Acute physical issues had caused her to be admitted, but the doctor's assessment of her persistent, annoying requests was "importunate", as if Mother-Dear still demanded the attention that she had craved during her troubled childhood.

When we first heard that she was in hospital, God distinctly impressed me that I should go and visit her. I wasn't sure how to accomplish this. Through a series of miracles, though, I was able to leave my teaching job, even before spring break began, and hitch a ride with an acquaintance who was going that way, a journey of more than eight hours. Now Mother-Dear had been in the hospital nearly a month, and had improved so much that she no longer qualified for the long-term program that the doctor had initially targeted for her. Hence, the phone call.

It was a daunting prospect, but Terry and I knew that we had to offer her a home with us. We saw that God was asking us to give up our right to the comfort and privacy of our own home out of love for someone weak and powerless, so that she could get better and even flourish.

"How can we ever do this?" I asked our pastor's wife.

"If God is leading you, He will provide what you need to for the task," she replied.

So that we wouldn't miss too much school, we left during the night to pick up Mother-Dear. She was so happy and relieved that we would take her in.

At first, Mother-Dear clung closely to me, and needed help with the smallest of tasks. As the months went by, she flourished in the atmosphere of the small Bible college on whose campus we lived, and that included the Christian school where we taught. She lapped up the care and attention of the college students as we took part in campus activities. Bit by bit, Mother-Dear became sure of her position as a child of God, and we witnessed her faith and trust in God blossom. The 17 months that she stayed with us were not easy, but by taking in Terry's mother with God's help, we laid aside our own rights in order to benefit someone else.

Let's do our best to live not for ourselves, "but for the good of others". (1 Corinthians 10:24b NLT)

Prayer: Lord, help us to remember that we live to benefit others and not for ourselves alone, for that's how You want us to live, even when we're inconvenienced. May whatever we do be done all for Your glory. Amen.