encouragement

I was encouraged by a recent home visit

The man was partially blind and had been an ex-triad boss. He had been in and out of prison, took all kinds of drugs and divorced several times. He had been penniless before, built-from-scratch of his life What touches me is how Christ is so real in his life after he accepted Him. Now he is serving actively in church, in prison ministry and helping at-risk youths to guide them to the right path.
I could not help but be amazed as such life transformations. Sometimes, I find it such a 'big thing' in the struggles that I go through but when I compare myself to this man, it pales much in comparison. I think of myself of as just someone who mugged my way and follow the system but this guy has been through so much more. I was encouraged by the part when he said that he had used force in the past to engage people but now, it is no violence for him and it is about talking, negotiating. Such thing can only come from our Lord's love and grace

Sometimes, I cannot help but wonder how much am we really transformed in our lives despite the 'appearance' of active serving in Hope. I am not saying that serving,outreaching is not a good thing but it is only one of the many indicators of a life walked with Christ. Does it mean that someone who needs time to go through the valleys,not serving, qualify him or her as 'far away from God' and 'not doing well'? I used to think that way, looking at such people with colored lens, putting on such unhelpful 'labels'. It is one thing to want to empathise with them but another thing to want them to 'conform' to 'our standards' which is not useful. I have learnt that one's relationship with God is a personal thing, there is no way that we can disregard or disqualify his or her experiences.

How would you follow up on someone who receives direct revelations from the Lord and is not the usual good-hearted follow-uppee you expect? Does that mean the person is not walking with the Lord?
How do you help someone who has depression or past family abuse history? Do we all know how to counsel them and in a Christ-centered way? hmm..I have no obvious answer for that

I pray that our church will mature in this aspect, to be able to give much support, resources to people who are from diverse backgrounds, hurt or just need time to go through the valleys. Outreaching, winning grounds is good but it is just part of the equation. Christ calls us to take care of the wounded and hurt, not just winning souls. It will be a great disservice if we hit the 8000-mark for our church and this area continues to be neglected or not received the due attention.