A Pocket Full

Over the weekend, my husband and I joined up with a group from our church to hand out food.

And each time a transaction took place.

While we lifted bags into back seats, they deposited chronicles of heartbreak at our feet.

While we passed gift cards through car windows, they left whispered tales of broken homes at our fingertips.

 Tears streamed, unashamedly, on both sides of the door that day.

And then she showed up.

From her large truck, a small woman looked down at us, waved an aged spotted hand, signalling us to stop and spoke.

“I want for nothing, I have all I need. Yet, I have something for you.”

An uncertain pause to our outreach hung in the air around us.  No one knew what to do. We eyed her suspiciously, until another volunteer approached her truck and timidly held out a gloved hand. She released a handful of small, plastic Jesus figurines.

We pocketed them and giggled awkwardly.

It was during my last car, that I remembered the figurine. As the car pulled away, my husband reached into his pocket and handed his Jesus to the woman behind the wheel.

And she hesitated, just a second, as if wondering what to do with Him.

“”Don’t you know that you can’t just give Jesus away,” I teased my husband as we walked back to the table.

“I thought that’s what we were doing,” he said.

He’s not wrong.

As we handed over bags of apples, we were giving away Jesus.

As we asked for Divine Favor in their situation, we were giving away Jesus.

As we ministered to the weary and heavy laden, we were giving away Jesus.

And you know what else..

When we offered them Jesus, some eyed us suspiciously. 

When we gave them Jesus, they weren’t sure where to put Him.

When we placed Jesus in their hands, they didn’t know what to do with Him.

And maybe that’s on us.

Maybe He has sat too long in our pockets for us to feel Him, or clutched too long in our gloved hands for us to work with Him.

I never did catch her name. I wish I could thank her.  I wonder if she knows just how important those words have become.

The next opportunity to give Jesus away might look different on the surface, yet the internal need remains the same. 

The need for a lifted load.

The need for some gentle joy.

The need for a Savior.

“Come.” Jesus says, “Come.”

He has something for you.