Turn Around

 

One time there was a man, a celebrity almost, who was walking through a large crowd.  People wanted to see him, to talk to him- maybe even shake his hand.  They had heard about him, but never really met him.  Now was their chance.  In the midst of the crowd, there was a woman.  But she wasn’t just any woman.  She was a lawbreaker.  She had missed the target- failed. She was considered dirty, worthless, untouchable.  According to the law, she was condemned to isolation, and she had experienced it.  For twelve years she had endured loneliness and rejection, and she thought maybe, just maybe, this man will be different than the rest.

No one likes rejection.  No one wants to be lonely.  We weren’t made that way.  We thrive when people BELIEVE in us, when we know they care about us and when we feel their love for us through their actions.  That’s the way we are wired.  But we all make mistakes.  In our aim to hit the target, we fall short.  We mess up, we fail.  Our good intentions end up with us hitting rock bottom.  Or maybe, we hit the target, but we are convinced by those around us that it wasn’t good enough.  Even though we hit the target, we made a mistake or two along the way and think that disqualifies us from the competition.

Now lets think about this for just a second.  We are all human.  We love to be truly loved, to know someone has our back no matter what.  We long for that.  Yet we don’t always give it.  We stand on the sidelines watching people miss the target, and we turn away.  Maybe because we feel we have too many of our own problems.  Or maybe because we think they don’t want help.  Possibly we’ve seen them fall short too many times and we’ve decided it’s time to give up.  And what does this tell the person who has missed the mark?  It tells them they aren’t good enough.  It tells them that we don’t have time, don’t care, and don’t believe in them enough to cheer them on no matter how many times they may miss the mark, regardless of their good intentions.

Hello!  Something is wrong here.  I don’t know about you, but I miss the target an awful lot.  In my striving to succeed, I miss little details, hit bumps along the way (some way bigger than others!), and make pretty much any and every mistake possible.  I’m only human, just like the rest of the world.

Wait, what?  So all humans want to be loved.  And all humans make mistakes, yeah?  Interesting…

One of my favorite movies is The Blind Side.  Party because I seriously love Sandra Bullock, but also because it’s just a dang good movie that tends to restore some of your faith in humanity.  If you’ve never seen the movie, I recommend it (based on a true story too.  Awesome, right?).  The short version of the story is this- a young man is going through some tough times, and has no place to live.  He befriends a family who offer him a place to live for as long as he needs, food, and ultimately love.  Instead of just a place to sleep, he finds a place to call home.  He finds family.  He finds people who BELIEVE in him, regardless of his past, regardless of the mistakes he makes, regardless of the fact that people have told him his whole life that he will never amount to anything, and regardless of him not even believing in himself.  Now here’s the cool part.  What happens when he finally has a cheer squad?  He thrives.  Not only does he exceed what anyone thought he could do, but he takes the next step and just keeps going.

So my question is this.  Why on earth do we sit around on the sidelines tearing others down, or worse- not even caring that they fail, when all it would take for them to start thriving is for us to believe in them.  To love them.  To be the person who has their back when no one else does.  We would want that from others if we were the one who felt worthless, lonely, and abandoned.  Wouldn’t we? 

The woman I was talking about earlier ended up touching the shirt that the man was wearing.  She just reached out and touched it, aching for some kind of hope.  Aching for someone to tell her she was worth their time.  And guess what.

Jesus turned around.

She was terrified.  She had hoped, but she hadn’t prepared.  I imagine she suddenly wished that she could disappear, because she thought that surely she was about to be judged again.  But that’s not what happened.  She encountered grace.  Jesus not only turned around, he healed her.  This thing that had been her whole identity, this dirty, ugly brokenness was gone.  And he could have stopped there.  That would have been enough.  But he chose to do more.  He looked her in the eyes and said that her faith had healed her, so she should now go, be freed from her suffering, and sin no more.

Whoa.

I can only imagine how that woman felt in that moment.  Not only did Jesus value her life enough to heal her, but he valued her heart enough to give it wings.  He made her well, but he also set her free.  She now had someone who she knew, beyond a doubt, believed in her.  Loved her.  I wonder what would happen if we started loving people like Jesus loved that woman, like he loves us.  There is NO ONE on earth who hasn’t messed up.  Done something wrong, even though they didn’t mean to.  Missed the target.  Yet Jesus loves us so, so much, and is always turning around to see if we will take the leap of faith and accept his hand up and out of the dust.

So I don’t know about you, but don’t really think we have an excuse.  Love people.  Believe in them.  Don’t give up.  Be the person who turns around when the rest of the world seems to be walking right by.  DO NOT try to fix them, ignore them, judge them, or tell them what their problem is.  That’s not our job. 

Our job is to turn around.  Our job is to love. 

P.S.  You can find the story of Jesus and the woman in Mark chapter 5, verses 25 through 35.

Oh and you can probably find The Blind Side at Target or Walmart or something.  Who knows, maybe it’s on sale. :)