I regularly volunteer to help out the Adonai ministry. Adonai is a non-profit in my hometown that ministers to families who have kids with cancer or other serious illnesses. Last Sunday we held an event at a local Fire Station to bless these families, lighten their load and give them a good time.
I listened to their heartbreaking stories and prayed with many them. Sometimes a serious illness causes people to turn to God because they desperately need him. But sometimes people choose to blame God and turn away from him, which is exactly what the enemy wants. When they do that, they are turning away from the only one who can heal their heart and help them through the crisis.
When I sense that, I try to help them understand that God’s role is not that of zapping kids with cancer or ripping them from the arms of their parents. God is the “God of all comfort and the Father of all compassion” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4), and he will help them if they turn to him. Understanding this often helps them to turn back to him.
But sometimes people are too angry, and they don’t want to hear anything about God. In that case, I give them space. I don’t want to be pushy and turn them off. But I don’t disconnect either. I just seek to be kind to them, give them practical gifts and lighten their load in any way I can. We try to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to love them in practical ways, and hopefully draw them toward God.