His Distressing Disguise

As I interviewed her in my office yesterday morning, I could see in the eyes of "Rachel" a sadness and distress.

Such a young woman and yet already having major marital problems. Her husband lives in Centeral Texas. They have a two-year-old between them. So far they have a fairly civil arrangement of trading their son back and forth. And yet this family pain is taking it toll on Rachel. She's already on depression medication and is seeing a psychiatrist. As she awaits getting an apartment and saving up for a deposit, she's feeling more stress in her financial pressures.

When she found about our services and the various ways we could help her, Rachel was so pleased. We prayed together and then one of our volunteers helped her get some clothes. I was thankful that we also had some funds to pay for some of her medication.

I thought about Rachel this morning as I read the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 -- so familiar to me, and yet so fresh:

Then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

I forget so quickly that when I encounter the Rachels of the world, I'm meeting Jesus. And when I help them in His Name, I'm actually doing this to my Lord. The old song by Michael Card, "Distressing Disguise," describes so well what happens when we view those in crisis as if they were Jesus:

He is in the pain, He is in the need
He is in the poor, we are told to feed
Though He was rich, for us He became poor
How could He give so much, what was it for?

In His distressing disguise
He waits for us to surmise
That we rob our brothers by all that we own
And that's not the way He has shown

Every time a faithful servant serves
A brother that's in need
What happens at that moment is a miracle indeed
As they look to one another in an instant it is clear
Only Jesus is visible for they've both disappeared

He is in the hand that reaches out to give
He is in the touch that causes men to live
So speak with your life now as well as your tongue
Shelter the homeless, take care of the young

In His distressing disguise
He hopes that we'll realize
That when we take care of the poorest of them
We've really done it to Him

Father, please give me Your eyes so that I will see people in pain and distress as if they were Your Son. Amen.

Jim