When?

  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

  “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

-Matthew 25:34-39

I've always read this in light of verse 40 where Jesus says "whatever you do to the least of my brothers you do to me", but while reading this passage this morning it struck me in a different way.  In a sense, Jesus is thanking the 'righteous ones' for everything they have done for him, but they have no idea what he is talking about.  All they can see is the immediate: "when did we do THIS for YOU?"  It is too much for them to think about the fact that when they were helping other people out it was as if they were actually helping and serving Jesus.  God always has the bigger picture in mind.  We have a difficult time seeing past tomorrow, but God sees it all.  In the times that we wonder when certain things came to be God knows the very details of how everything worked together.  It amazes me still.  

"When did we do these things?"  

"Well, all those times that you were helping perfect strangers you were helping me."

It is hard to wrap our minds around such a conversation, but reading this time caused me to focus less on the fact that whatever we do to the least of our brothers we do unto God and more on the fact that that logic is not a mistake in God's eyes.  Not only is it not a mistake, but God knew that one day they would wonder why and He would know the answer!

We might do the same thing...ask God "When did we do this?", but trust that God knows what He is doing when he weaves the events of life together perfectly in a way that sometimes doesn't make practical sense to us.