Take What You Need

Years ago, I spent some time in Romania. I was part of a small group of people who wanted to touch the lives of children there – both on the streets and in a large regional children’s hospital. There were many moments during those years that have stuck with me, but one I often think of took place in the children’s hospital. We spent time whenever we could on a floor where children were basically residents. Perhaps their parents had been given no hope for their child’s recovery. Some were abandoned. The ratio of children to workers was impossible, so we went just to hold little ones, talk to them, look them in the eye, play with the ones who could interact.

During one visit, a young woman from our group was holding a child in her arms. I don’t know how old the child was. It was often hard to tell because of “failure-to-thrive” or other factors. I don’t even remember if it was a boy or a girl. But I remember the child in Deborah’s arms, head on her shoulder, and Deborah saying quietly, “Take what you need.”

Take what you need.

It’s what Jesus said when he said, “This is my body, which is given for you…this is my blood, which is poured out for you…” (Luke 22)

Take what you need.

It’s what Jesus said to the woman who had suffered sickness and loss for 12 years and risked whatever she had left when she dared to touch his hem with her hope. (Luke 8)

Take what you need.

It’s what Jesus said when he declared, “It is finished,” and died for you. (John 19)

Take what you need.
Just take it.
Get close to Him and soak it up.
He already offered it all to you and it’s there for the taking, everything you need.
Take what you need.


Ambushed by God in a memory,
Kimberly


For Deborah, who embraced a stranger’s child and whispered, “Take what you need.”
For Cheryl, who sits with the dying and the family in loss and says, “Take what you need.”
For John, who gives his days to the prisoner and the homeless and says, “Take what you need.”
For so many others who rescue babies, embrace mothers, attend to the sick, befriend the lonely, and day after day, reveal Jesus saying, “Take what you need.”

And for someone who hasn't yet reached out to take it.
Take what you need.