She, Herself and God Devotionals
Be a Doer Like Dorcas
“There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. About this time, she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, ‘Please come as soon as possible!’ So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body, he said, ‘Get up, Tabitha.’ And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.” (Acts 9:36-41)
I like the idea of doing kind things for others and helping the poor, but I do not like the reality of it especially if I will just consider the negative attitude of the beneficiaries. While doing kind things for others and helping the poor are rewarding, the realistic person in me hesitates to be kind and helpful to the ones who have the tendency to rant, to be ungrateful, and to be dissatisfied despite being helped. Sadly, this is the very reason why most of the poor people become poorer. They tend to rant instead of doing something to improve their living condition. They tend to be ungrateful instead of being appreciative of the help that they get. And they tend to be dissatisfied, which is actually normal; but what concerns me most is the fact that they do not do for themselves what they want others to do for them.
However, the story of Dorcas slaps me on the face and has allowed me to have some moments of truth for myself. While the idea of poverty alone is a problem, the reality of it is a much bigger problem for the ones experiencing it. Hence, I have no right to judge the poor and their attitude towards their situation. And while it is true that our sinful nature causes us to rant, to be ungrateful, and to be dissatisfied despite being helped, it is also true that our Christian nature should teach us to be patient, understanding, and empathetic towards others especially to the poor ones.
In other words, we should never consider their negative attitude when we do kind things for them and help them. We should instead keep on being kind and benevolent in obedience to the Lord’s greatest commandment: love Him with all our hearts, our minds, and our souls and love our neighbors as ourselves. So if we love others as ourselves, do we want ourselves to be hungry and thirsty and helpless? Do we want ourselves to be judged for our attitude towards our living condition? Do we want ourselves to be neglected just because we tend to rant, to be ungrateful, and to be dissatisfied? Or do we want someone like Dorcas to do kind things for us and help us instead? Now if our last answer is in the affirmative, then why do we not be the Dorcas of their lives?
As a woman of God, each of us can learn a thing or two from Dorcas who had really set a good example for all Christians. She was the type of believer who was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor, which was evident on the day she died. As it is written in the Bible, even if her body was already washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room, the people that Dorcas used to help still begged the apostle Peter to come and raise her from the dead. There were widows as well who showed Peter the coats and other clothes that Dorcas had made for them, which only means that her kindness and her benevolence were remembered well on the day she died. As a result, the people that Dorcas used to help wanted her badly to live again. And because they had faith, the Lord gave them exactly what they wanted. The kind and benevolent Dorcas was made alive again.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for using someone like Dorcas to teach us that the act of being kind to others and helping the poor is truly rewarding. And while it should never be our goal to look forward to the reward, we pray to always show kindness and benevolence in obedience to Your greatest commandment. We ask in the Name of Jesus that we will never, ever consider the negative attitude of our beneficiaries. Instead, we pray that we will watch out for our negative attitude when it comes to being kind to others and helping the poor because we know that we will not please You at all if we do these things without pure intentions. We invite Your Holy Spirit to always guide us so that our Christian nature will be more dominant than our sinful nature and that by Your grace, we can be doers like Dorcas. All these we ask in the Name of Christ Jesus. Amen.
