Looks can be deceiving. You may be with someone who appears to have it all together and whose life seems perfect. They may even talk a good game, but that’s not really who they are when they are all by themselves. That same person that you so admire may be crying themselves to sleep each night. They might even be considering suicide. They might be dealing with so much pain, grief, and sorrow that they just can’t make it without drowning out all of the tough places with alcohol or pills. You just have no clue what others are carrying and struggling with. You just never know.

For this very reason, God calls us to be alert and always paying attention. Now just looking with our physical eyes, we will miss it all, but when we allow ourselves to see with God’s eyes, then we’ll be able to catch things that otherwise we would miss on our own. There is this inner prompting of The Holy Spirit that keeps us ever mindful of things always going on around us. We never go wrong being in tune with God.

Have you ever experienced that inner prompting that just won’t go away? It’s telling you to talk to that person that you just met. It’s telling you to send that encouraging text. It’s telling you to make that phone call or send that card. It’s telling you to encourage someone regardless of anything you know going on in that person’s life. You don’t understand why you’re being led to do these things, but you know that God won’t let you rest until you do. You know that your obedience to God in these situations is more important than looking crazy to the other person. Of course, when you’re listening to “that” voice, then it will never lead you in the wrong direction. It will always be right on time.

We must purpose to live this way each and everyday of our lives. There are hurting people all around us – even those that don’t appear to be hurting. Sometimes we have no idea just how much that we’re helping others when we pour out the love that God has poured into us. This doesn’t cost us anything, but it is making a world of difference to the recipient. We grow and are blessed every time that we give of ourselves. God somehow ends up encouraging us, the giver, each time that we share of the joy that God has imparted to us. We’re just being Jesus with skin on.

So the next time that God places someone in your path, be paying attention. Listen to His voice, and then don’t question what He’s asking you to do. You are doing ministry just as much as that pastor that preaches each Sunday, that missionary in a foreign country, or that person leading worship in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. Don’t miss your opportunity to change a life. Yes, that one small act has the possibility of not only affecting that one person’s life, but thousands of people all because you decided to get out of your comfort zone and reach out to someone.

Be on guard. Watch out. God is bringing people to you even as we speak. Be the one that brings hope to the person who has no hope for tomorrow. You are making a difference. You are changing the world one small act of kindness at a time.