One night during hospital stay about a year ago, I was up all night preparing for testing early the next morning, I noticed a text from a friend who was up late (two hours earlier in another state) who urgently needed prayer for his family. I usually don’t get his texts until the next day, but since I was up, I began praying for him and his family. Each text he sent, brought a scripture to mind that I readily shared with him. None of this would have been possible had I been asleep as usual. I had not been aware of his situation, which was very dire, and was glad to be able to pray for him and his family. The family came through that day and settled a difficult situation that had been dogging them for years.

As I contemplated those hours of prayer and connection with him, his family, and God, a word came to mind: slipstream.

I thought I knew what it meant, but I looked it up anyway. The definition I found was: an assisting force regarded as drawing something along behind something else. So, in my example above, the assisting force, God, was drawing me along behind my friend and his family’s need. This drawing-along action makes the movement of the object being drawn behind much easier.

Sometimes we think of people’s needs as something that would slow us down, encumber us. But what if, because of that Assisting Force—God our Father—the need of our brother or sister is the very thing that draws us into the movement of God, that holy slipstream? A slipstream where it is less burdensome, where there is more ease, where that invisible force provides momentum we didn’t expect? What if that’s exactly where we belong, in the middle of our needs together?

It seems like our world does everything it can to encourage us to be isolated from the needs of ourselves and others. And to keep our needs to ourselves.

Had I not been awake the night my friend texted me, I would have missed that particular interaction and that word “slipstream.” Had he not shared his need with me, I would not have experienced the ease with which the scriptures and words of encouragement came.

So, is there a need you or someone else has that invites you and/or them into that holy slipstream? Ask Jesus what need in your sphere of action is meant to draw you into His holy slipstream today. I wouldn’t want you to miss His presence and the ease of that Assisting Force.

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