Unwelcomed, but Necessary

"Love like Woe" rang through my head, unexpected and unwelcomed. My familiar ringtone only brought questions to mind, "who the heck would call me at 4 in the morning?", "what does this person want?"  I do not take kindly to the disturbance of my sleep. I groped around the dark room and grabbed my cell phone. A friend's name flashed across the screen and I decided to answer it.  No one would call at 4 am just to caught up.

"Hello?" I answered, in an obviously groggy voice that noted my being woken up.
"Charity? Sorry I woke you up, but I really need to talk." The voice on the other line stated before sobs filled my ear.
The conversation lasted about 30 minutes, but those 30 minutes ended with a life time of truth.

I'm not going to go into the details of the phone conversation for privacy sake, but I will tell you what I learned during this early morning phone call.

Lately I have been struggling. Hardcore struggling with different things.  I would go to bed with a feeling of hopelessness or just a lack of peace. I didn't know how to get out of this hole that I had allowed myself to fall into. So what a better way of being ministered to than ministering to a friend?

As I listened to my friend for the first 10 minutes explain her struggle, her trouble, etc., my heart broke for her.  I just wanted to reach out and hug her, but I couldn't.  I just wanted to comfort her to let her know that she is loved and cared for, but I couldn't. Yet her courage in doing something I would never do left me in wonder. Her reaching out for truth from someone she thought could help made me realize my own cowardice. In my struggle, I did not turn to other people to speak truth into my life, instead I allowed my tears to be my only source of comfort. So, I listened intently at her honesty and was reminded of truth.

After her little outpouring of honesty, I began to speak. I did not know what to say, but all I had to offer was the little bit of truth stored up in my head. So I repeated it back to her. Then I did what I knew how to do: I prayed for her. Over the phone, I went before our Heavenly Father and prayed for her. I was reminded of how little I do this for myself. Nine out of ten times I neglect to pray for God to give me strength. And in my selfishness, I do not allow other people to pray for me in my struggles. Yet as I recalled truth and spoke truth into her life, God used that to remind me of what to do in my struggle.

What my friend needed to hear is truth. She craved truth and she craved to be reminded of that truth. She wanted someone to listen to her struggles and to remind her of the truth she had long forgotten. Why she called me is beyond my comprehension, but I'm glad that she did. And I'm glad that I answered the phone. Because God is faithful and will use little things, like an unwelcomed phone call at 4 in the morning, to bring us back to the truth of who HE is and who we are in HIM. Through my friend's courage, I was reminded of what I need to do.