Scripture
Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” Acts 3:2-4
Observation
Eye contact with people in need is a risky thing for a busy leader to do. The day is streamlined when problem people are kept in peripheral vision. A leader knows that those people are on the edges, but he glances at his watch and keeps moving. A busy pastor knows that the time needed to cross a crowded room is not measured by the distance to be walked but by the people to be met. Each person is “just a minute” and can turn a walk from the front of the church to the back of the church into an hour long slow crawl.
Peter and John set for leaders a very different approach to time management. They made eye contact and took time to be involved in human need. The result was more than a miracle; they stepped into a divine moment. God had scheduled a preaching appointment for them that day that would spark a revival. Had they whisked past the man they would have missed the appointment and lived a day never recorded in the Bible. Instead they risked involvement and stepped into history.
Jesus had modeled for these men a very different perspective of time management. Time managers advise that busy leaders should focus on accomplishing written daily tasks and to screen people to avoid interruptions. Jesus, however, never rejected anyone who came to him for help. Occasionally he delayed for a few days or posed a challenging question, but he always took time to be involved in human need. He demonstrated that human problems are a portal into God’s purposes.
Eye contact with people in need requires faith in God that he is in control of interruptions and ultimately of our day. Often we trust a watch, Daytimer, or Blackberry more than the Lord.
Eye contact with people in need requires confidence that there is enough time to help. Somehow if we put the need first the Lord will sort out the rest of our day.
Eye contact with people in need requires humility that God’s agenda is more significant than our own. The Bible is strewn with examples of God interrupting good people doing good things to get his will done.
Application
I’ll admit it. I don’t like making eye contact with people in need. That’s probably because I take my own importance too highly. Marginalizing people is exactly that: fencing people with problems into the margins of my life. A fully checked “to-do list” is not an evidence that I have done the will of God.
Prayer
Father, okay here I go. I open my life today to people in need. I am interruptible. Amen.
