We Rise By Helping Others

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Transcript

Audrey McCracken: 1:13

Hello friends, welcome back to Grace for my home. I am so glad to be back here with you guys again this week and I'm very honored that you allow me to be a part of your family's journey. My goal here is to encourage you, to help you in your journey as a mom, and as moms we have such important jobs. You know there there's a lot of debate back and forth About stay at home moms and working moms and who has the hardest job and who has who's doing the best job, and there are a lot of people that will go back and forth about. You know how hard you think. You have it hard. I've got it harder. You think this is hard. You should try this and I want to tell you guys that it's hard for all moms.

Audrey McCracken: 2:07

You know, whether you work outside of your home, whether you work at home and do not have an outside job, it's hard and I've done both. You know the grass is always greener on the other side. You know we look at people who don't have our particular situation and we think, man, that must be nice, it must be easier over there, but it's really not. You know we get over there and we think this isn't what I thought it would be. Things rarely are, are they? So my hope, my prayer for you is that the Lord would show you the grace that he's given you right where you are. You know, I can't take or use the grace that he's given you because I don't have your situation, I don't have your, your, your set of circumstances and vice versa. You know you can't do things exactly the way I do them because they won't fit, cause you don't have my kids and you don't have my personality. And that's really easy for me to say. But walking it out, living that way and believing it, that's that's a lot harder, because somehow we think if I can just find the right person and copy that person, then I will be able to figure this out and just ask me how I know that, because I have tried to do it and it never works out the way we think it should. Because we are individuals and God has made us that way and he's given each of us a unique puzzle that we have to learn how to walk out. We have to learn how to put that puzzle together with his help, with his aid, and he is more than willing to help us, but he's not going to let us be successful by copying somebody else's puzzle, by copying somebody else's life and just trying to do exactly what they did because you like the outcome that they got. You know if, if you can take that advice, it'll save you lots of frustration. But a lot of times we have to live that out before we see that it's true. We have to fail that several times before we realize oh, god wants to do something different in my life.

Audrey McCracken: 4:27

I want to share with you something that has helped me during the seasons in life where it felt like I was stuck and when I looked and I saw the things around me, I was discouraged. And we all have those seasons. We all have those times and there are seasons when it just everything feels yucky. Don't know if you're in one of those seasons, I know. I think all of us have had those seasons and it helps me to store up pearls of wisdom that I can use during those times. You know, if we can remember during those hard times that God has given us a Lot of tools for our toolbox that we can pull out and use when they're appropriate, then it gives us hope during those times and one of the things that has always helped me during the times when it just things feel dark and it feels like, you know, is this worth it? Am I doing it right? Everybody else seems to be getting it and for some reason I'm not. One of the things that has helped me has been to reach outside of myself which seems like the hardest thing to do when you're going through something hard and to find somebody else that I can help. I Call it sewing Into somebody else's life so that I can reap in my own life, and I want to tell you it really works. If nothing else, it works in my mind to get my mind off of myself and To bless somebody else, which always makes me feel better about my current situation.

Audrey McCracken: 6:09

You know, I remember for years, as a young Christian, I really did want a mentor. I wanted someone that could show me the way and walk with me and that I could come to you for advice. And you know, I had friends and there were some older ladies in my life that prayed for me and I'm very thankful for that. But I never did find that that mentor that would take me under her wing and show me the way, and there were other people in my life who had that? And there were times when I was very jealous Because I just thought, lord, what about me? Don't you care about me? Lord, don't you see that I need somebody to show me the way, because I did not know how to serve the Lord. I did not grow up in a Christian home. I I did grow up going to church because my grandmother took me, but I didn't know how to walk with God. And how do we know how to walk with God unless somebody shows us?

Audrey McCracken: 7:14

I really desired to have someone older than me, that had been walking with Jesus longer than me, show me the way, and I never got that one person. Like I said, he put people in my life when I needed them. You know he showed me the way. But so many times I look back and thought, lord, I wish I'd had a mentor, I wish I'd had somebody that I could ask these hard questions to and they wouldn't judge me. And so after years, when the Lord finally got through to me that that's not the path that he had chosen for me, he started putting on my heart to be that person for other people and that I would find joy, I would find fulfillment in being that person for someone else, and I took him up on the offer. I said, lord, if you'll help me to find people to encourage, to love, you know, just to know just to be there with them and help them walk with the Lord, then by your grace I'll do that. I don't know that I really know how, but I can share with them the things that have helped me. And, you know, even this podcast is part of that.

Audrey McCracken: 8:30

And I have found that during the times when I feel the lowest, if I will find someone to encourage, if I will find some way to reach out to someone who has it rough or is having a bad day or, you know, I know, is struggling in a particular area, and just text them, call them, it does something in me and I think of it as the sewing and reaping principle. You know. It says that whatever we sew, we shall reap. So if you're in a season of discouragement where you just really wish you had some encouragement, find somebody. I cannot encourage you enough to do this. Find somebody who you know is going through a hard time and encourage them. You don't have to look very far these days, they're all around, you know. Ask the Lord, show me, father, who I can encourage today. Who needs a text, who needs a phone call, who needs a card in the mail, who needs me just to pray for them. They may never know that I'm praying for them. And if you can reach outside of yourself, even in the times when you really are going through things and you feel like Lord, I wish somebody would reach out to me. If you can mount up, find somebody else to encourage, even when you're discouraged, it will bring new life to you. I promise you it will.

Audrey McCracken: 10:04

There's something about becoming the encourager, even when we really need the encouragement, that builds us up. It's that principle of sewing and reaping. Jesus said in Luke, chapter 6, in verse 38, give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall men give unto your bosom, for with the same measure that you meet, it shall be measured back to you again. When we give out of ourselves and our own, when we're even, especially when we don't feel like we have to give, but we reach deep in and we choose to be givers, then it does something inside of us. It changes our mentality and it causes us to be stronger inside. It causes us to see ourselves, you know, not as victims, but as people who have something worth giving. And it does something in us. It does something in us spiritually, mentally. It gives us a new strength Because we give to that measure, it will be given back to us. And, guys, this is a spiritual principle that I have seen work over and over in my life.

Audrey McCracken: 11:29

The Lord has really been stirring my heart lately to look on people with compassion. Several times in the Gospel it talks about how Jesus looked out into the crowd and he had compassion on them. He really cared for them. You know it even said one time that he looked out and he saw them and it says he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He cared about their spiritual well-being and you know they had teachers, they had the Pharisees, they had the scribes, but the Pharisees and the scribes did not care about them in a personal way, didn't care for their well-being.

Audrey McCracken: 12:13

Have you noticed in the Bible that some of Jesus's harsh words were reserved for the religious leaders? You know they were very wrapped up in their own selves. They were very wrapped up in proving to everybody how religious they were, how righteous they were, how holy they were and they really did not have compassion for those that they didn't feel like were as holy as they were. And Jesus came on the scene. And I want to be very clear Jesus never condoned sin but he loved centers. He never joined in to sin with them. He always called them out of sin but he wasn't afraid to be friends with them. He wasn't afraid to go to them in their sin and meet their needs. But the religious people couldn't do that. They were really more concerned with their own image, with their own reputation, than they were the person in front of them.

Audrey McCracken: 13:23

And God wants us to be like Him. He wants us to look at people and see people. He wants us to look on people and see that this is a person who maybe they're struggling, but they're trying to make it and let's do what we can to help them get past this hurdle. And in that life, when we do that, when we enter into the work of Jesus, of reaching the loss, of caring for people, having compassion for people and the things are going through it does something in us.

Audrey McCracken: 14:01

You know, this week I had a mom who came into the coffee shop and I do not know her son. I know her. I don't know her son, but she was telling me some things that were going on with her son, medical issues he was having. He is an adult, but you're always a mama, right? I don't care if you're 90 and your son is 70, you are always a mom. And she was telling me some medical issues that her son was having. And she did not ask me to pray, but I told her I'm going to pray for him, we're going to be praying for him, and you could just see her melt, like, thank you, like you care, yes, we care. And she had to let me know now he's not serving the Lord. You know he's not a Christian, he's not following the Lord. I said, honey, god can touch that. Let's pray for God to touch the physical and then it'll soften up his heart for the spiritual things you know.

Audrey McCracken: 15:03

So many times it says Jesus had compassion on them and he healed them. He cared about their bodies, he cared about their minds. You know he cared about them and a lot of times he would reach them by touching them physically and then they would realize number one, he's God, he is who he says he is, but number two, he cares for me. You know it's one thing to present God to people in a way that you know he is. He is almighty and he is all powerful and he hates sin and he's calling you to righteousness. I mean, all those things are true. But when you can share God with them, as all of those things he is holy, he is righteous, he is almighty and he loves you, then it changes everything.

Audrey McCracken: 15:57

You know, when God saved me, I knew many of the scriptures. I knew that I was a sinner. I knew that I needed God. A lot of people today don't even know that. They don't even know that I knew that because I was brought up in church, though I wasn't serving the Lord. I felt that I needed him. But what changed my life was when I realized his great love for me, when I realized that he wasn't looking down on me and judging and pointing his finger and saying I saw that. I saw what you did. But when he was reaching out his hand and saying I have so much better for you, come and follow me and I'll show you. And I felt his great love for me. I realized his great love for me that he had a plan for me and I did not want to miss it. Then I was inspired to follow him. He melted my heart with his great love for me and he saw right where I was and he called me out of it. I knew his great compassion, I felt his compassion for me and I knew he wasn't mad, that he truly loved me, and only the Holy Spirit can reveal that. But he reveals that when we pray for people, when we love on people, when we show them that compassion, and when we do the things that Christ did while he was on earth, when we reach out to people, even when we're hurting, that need love, that need acceptance, that need to know that God loves them, then he can do that miracle that only he can do in their hearts.

Audrey McCracken: 17:50

I'm often drawn back to the Last Supper and I think about that night. Jesus knew that his time had come. He even told the disciples I'm about to be taken from you, and they didn't understand. They didn't get it. But that very night he washed their feet. He had the Passover with them. He told them so many things that were about to happen. He was trying to prepare them for when he was gone and so in his time of need he was pouring into them, when it would have been really easy for him to wallow in self pity, he didn't. He thought what do they need? What do these disciples of my need for tonight, when I'm late, or tonight when I'm arrested, or when I'm in the tomb? What do they need to know so that they don't lose hope? And I want to be that kind of person. I want to be that kind of person that can look out and not just look at people and see their sin, but look and see that that's a person right there that God loves dearly and that I would be able to have his compassion for them. Because that's how we witness, that's how we share our faith with, with the lost, not because it's a chore that we're commanded to do, but because God pours his love and our heart for them and he gives us that grace to share him with others who desperately need him.

Audrey McCracken: 19:39

Not too long after I became a Christian, I took a trip to. I took a couple of trips to Nicaragua. There was a missionary family there that was part of the church organization that I was a part of, and they had invited a group of young people down and I was one of those to see what they were doing there and to help in the work they were doing there. And there was a village not too far. They lived in the capital city and there was a village not too far from there and it was a very, very poor place. And I remember they prepared us before we got there. I was in my 20s, but they prepared us before we got there and told us the main occupation for the women of this town is prostitution, because that's the only job that is available for women here and there's not that many jobs for the men. It's a very poor place and because there was no contraception there, there were a plethora of children, because that's what happens. So these young girls had many children and many of them were not married and it was just a very sad situation.

Audrey McCracken: 21:03

Well, these missionaries would bring in diapers, formula, anything they could to help these moms, but what they would do was have a service and, as the moms would come in and listen to the message, at the end of the message they would be able to get some diapers, get some formula, some baby wipes, just whatever would be helpful. The girls really didn't want to be there, they were just there to get this stuff. But we had a few minutes to share a word with them and they had asked me to speak. Well, I was very nervous I'd never done anything like that before and I was on stage and there were a couple of us speaking and I was the last one to go.

Audrey McCracken: 21:49

And as I was on that stage and I'm looking out at these young girls, and there were many of them and there were many kids, it was very noisy because all the babies were crying. And I looked out and I said, lord, when you see these women, what do you see? And I was really surprised at what I felt. The Lord spoke to my heart and he said I see you. And something in me kind of rose up like well, I'm not a prostitute, you know, I'm better than that. I was immediately convicted because the Lord allowed me to look out on that audience of young girls who were trapped in that horrible system and see that he had compassion for them and that sin is sin. And he didn't see me any different than he saw them. The only difference was I had accepted him, I had run to him for forgiveness and he wanted them to do the same. And I knew when I got up there that the only thing he wanted me to tell them was that he loved them and he made them for so much more.

Audrey McCracken: 23:10

And I truly believe that as we pray and we ask the Lord to give us eyes to see others outside of our home and our family and our little circle of friends, as we ask him to give us eyes to see others through his eyes, then he will give us a great compassion for them, because that's how he sees them and it will bring life back to us, because that's what we were created to do and that's how he brings in his harvest. He said pray, pray, pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out the workers. You and I are the workers. We may not feel up to the task, we may not feel like we know enough to do this great work, but we never do it alone. You know, we're working in our father's fields and he's always there. He's always there and it's okay that we don't know what we're doing.

Audrey McCracken: 24:05

You know, so many times I find myself in situations and I think I have no idea what I'm doing. And you know I have learned that that's what Paul meant when he said when I'm weak, then I'm strong, because that's when Jesus is his strongest in me. When I realize, lord, if you don't show up here, we're all in trouble. I have to depend on him, when I don't know what I'm doing, so I can rejoice in my weaknesses, because that's when he's strong in me. Amen. I hope something I have said today has encouraged you, encouraged you in your walk with the Lord, encouraged you to trust him, encouraged you to look out and to see people through his eyes. And I just can't encourage you enough that, if you're struggling, find someone else who is struggling to and encourage them, be there for them. God will make sure that it comes back to you, that, as you have given, it will be returned to you. Press down, shaken together, running over. He says Amen.

Audrey McCracken: 25:14

Father, thank you for these ladies, thank you for hope in their hearts. Thank you, lord, god, for giving us your love for people. Father, let us be those workers that you sent out into the field, lord, we may not have a title, we may not feel like we're worthy, but, lord, we're your workmanship, lord, we're your plan. We are your plan on this earth to love people and to build your great family that you have decided you're going to have. And, lord, let us be a part of building the family of God, sharing your love with others, so that you can call them Lord, call them home, and we just thank you for it. Lord, I thank you for your hand on us this week, in Jesus' name, amen.