Life's Little Instruction Book

Someone very close to me is having a hard time with life right now. The world has really thrown him some punches in the last couple of weeks, and I don't know what to do. The truth is, there isn't really much I can do. I've offered to be a soft place to fall. My ears are open, my couch is available, and my lips are sealed. But the bottom line is that his heart is breaking, and I can't mend it.

If you know me, you know that I'm a terrible evangelist. It's my personal weakness. Come to church, and I will make you feel welcome. Ask me about God, and I have so much to tell you. But you have to make the first move. I'm just not comfortable meddling in someone's life. I don't doubt that it's the right thing to do. The Bible makes it perfectly clear that we are to spread the Word. Jesus was a life-meddler. Oh, but I just can't do it.

I tell you all this because the person I mentioned who is having a hard time is not a believer. My gut reaction to all his problems is to help him pray about it. You see, the problem this man is experiencing is that he and his wife are unable to forgive each other's faults. It all seems very simple to me. If you do not experience the grace of Jesus Christ in your own life, there is no way that you can extend that grace to someone else. So, I am not surprised that he is having a hard time, but, boy, am I sorry that he is. So, my struggle now is how to relate that message without turning him off. It's times like these that I am glad Christianity came with an instruction book. Now, if only it came with a personal assistant... Prayers, please.