God is the Father to the fatherless, Husband to the widow ……..
Again and again, We have been told to care for the orphans and widows……. Is God not doing that already? Yes, through those who are obedient……
“Care for the orphans and widows.”
The widows complained of unequal treatment in the fellowship of the young church and deacons were appointed to oversee that all received their share…..
Acts 6
“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
…… And with the addition of the fruit of the work of the deacons, the Word of God spread…. and many priests came to the faith….. an interesting juxtaposition in the text.
Discontent gave way to direction, then discipleship and that gave way to many priests, men of the Temple, coming to the faith. Those who thought they knew God the best were brought to the faith by faithful obedience to the Word in response to serving the widows……
I’ve been preparing my heart for ministry to widows this past year. Already I’ve investigated one false start, from which the Lord restrained me. God tells us to comfort others with the comfort we have received…. and all comfort comes from God, who IS the God of ALL comfort!
God of All Comfort
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in (E)Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
Pray for me to be obedient as led by the Lord….. October 2021