God is always sending people to us in providential ways. We do not know why they came to us, why they pass within the range of our influence. But in whatever way they are sent to us we have some errand to them. They may need our sympathy, our encouragement, our comfort, our protection, the influence of our friendship. Let us be careful lest while we are busy here and there they are gone without having received the influence which God intended us to give them. –
The Work of the Lord, in The Gate Beautiful
We may do the peacemaker's work by seeking always to bring together those who have been estranged. In every community there are such persons. Sometimes they live under the same roof and eat at the same table. There are brothers and sisters; there are even husbands and wives, who are further apart than any strangers. A thick wall of rock has been built up between them. It may be difficult to do anything to heal such estrangements. But even in the most unhappy and most hopeless alienations the peacemaker's holy work may yet be crowned with success. –
On Being a Peacemaker, in A Heart Garden
There are some whose lives are so set apart for ministry to others and so filled with calls for service that they seem to have no opportunity to be ministered to by others. They are always giving and never receiving. They spend their days in helping others, but no one helps them. They carry the burdens of many, but no one comes to carry their burden. They are comforters of the sorrow of all their friends, but in their own grief no one ministers consolation to them. They share their bread with the hungry, but when they are hungry no man gives unto them. Yet these find their help in the very serving to which they devote their lives. In feeding others, they are fed. In comforting others, they are comforted. In blessing others they are blessed. It matters not that no others come to serve them – they are served in their service. –
Getting Help From People, in Upper Currents