lenten journey, day 12 — a prayer for widows

This is my gramma, Joanna. She’s with Jesus now. The man with her is her husband, Roy. When he died, she became a widow. For the third time.

When her first husband died, Gramma was only 23 years old and had three young children. Her second husband (my biological grandfather) abandoned the family during the great depression, then died later of complications from drug use. Roy, her third husband and the love of her life, was a true hero who cared for Gramma and her seven kids until leukemia claimed his life at age 74.

God has a soft spot for widows. Over and over in both the Old and New Testaments, believers are instructed to take care of widows, and are warned not to take advantage of them. How sad, that throughout history there have been those who prey on elderly widows—gaining their confidence, exploiting their naïveté, then stealing their money. Sadder still is the reality of abuse. In 2003, most of the nearly 566,000 reported elder abuse cases involved old women.

God is committed to helping those who cannot help themselves, and the church is to be his channel of compassion as he seeks to care for widows and other helpless people. So often, we delegate care of widows to the government. But God specifically appointed the family and the church as caregivers for widows.

The government may send a monthly check, but when was the last time a civil servant showed up at a widow’s house to mow her lawn…or ask her about her grandchildren...or read to her from the Bible…or cook her a hot meal?

No, that privilege has been saved for us.

Father, you love widows. You see them through eyes of tender love and pour your compassion on them. And you have called us to experience the joy of loving them as you do. Lord, I need to ask your forgiveness for driving past my widowed neighbor’s home several times each day without ever wondering what her needs might be. I pray that you will show me how to love her and bring the good news of Christ into her life in a tangible way. Father, thank you for the way two beautiful widows—my gramma and my mom—showed your love to their families despite the hardships they faced. May my faith one day be that strong! Yes, and amen.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” — James 1:27

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” — Psalm 68:4