Herein is Love
by Ruth Hawkey
I was sitting on a wooden bench outside Primark a few weeks ago, waiting for a friend to finish her shopping. I was ‘people watching’, and before long I noticed an elderly couple, probably in their eighties, making their way towards me at a very slow pace.
The lady was hobbling badly and the gentleman (whom I assumed was her husband) was holding her hand and helping her along. She was evidently in some pain. I moved along the bench so that they could sit down and then I watched as he very gently lowered her down on to the bench and proceeded to remove her shoe and sock. To my amazement, he then took out a spotlessly clean handkerchief and began to wipe the inside of her shoe with it whilst looking for anything that might be causing her a problem with walking.
Finding a small pebble, he removed it, wiped the inside of the shoe again, put her sock and shoe back on, smiled at her and sat down. After about five minutes, he asked her if she was OK, and, getting an affirmative answer, he gently got hold of her hand, helped her to her feet, and, after saying goodbye to me, they walked away.
The phrase came immediately into my mind: ‘Herein is love’, and the Lord spoke to me of His great love for each one of us, and how, on the cross, He removed our sin so that we could walk closely with Him. However, through this elderly couple, He also reminded me that, on a daily basis, He longs to remove even the small things that would cause us to stumble.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus and for His great love for each one of us. Thank You that we can trust Him to identify and remove those things that cause us to falter and stumble in our Christian walk. We choose today to give Him permission to do that. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ruth Hawkey has had the privilege of working alongside Ellel Ministries from the very beginning. She and her husband Joe helped to begin the work in both Glyndley Manor and Canada. She has written a number of books including Healing Emotional Wounds, Healing the Human Spirit, Generational Blessing and Generational Sin, and Praying for Children. She and her husband also helped to develop prayer ministry teams in the local church.
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