Standing In The Gap

I'm listening to Klove while I clean and get ready to host our LIFEgroup tonight. They are doing their pledge drive which honestly drives me crazy... but today I tolerated it. They were asking people to give for families that couldn't see a way clear to do so. They called it standing in the gap.
I started to think about standing in the gap. Isn't this what life is all about? Isn't this what Jesus did for us? Isn't this the message we should be sharing with everyone around us? Maybe this is topic is elementary for some of you who have clearly gotten the concept better than I have.
Standing in the gap could mean any of the following and I'm sure more, but intercessory prayer(biggie), giving of time, $, self, just plain helping someone out,serving quietly and faithfully to see God's work carried out.
I can remember one time vividly where someone stood in the gap for me and it touched my heart so much that I will never forget it or the person who carried it out. I'm sure there have been others, but this one instance stands out to me. This someone reached out and offered to stand for me so that I could have a couple hours to myself. We would have had an infant, a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old and there were days I thought it would never get easier and nothing would ever change. It was a very simple thing really, yet in the trenches of dirty diapers, bottles, dishes, housework, 3 babies in 3 yrs still getting up at night and a husband who worked daylight to past dark, a simple gift of staying with my children so I could go to the grocery by myself for 2 hrs brought me to tears. And I'll never forget it. I said then that I would remember this kindness and pass it on to other mothers serving in the hard spots when my kids were grown. I had often wondered where the "older mothers" were, who didn't have kids at home to take all their time? And where are the grandmothers who sit and knit silly scarves? Why aren't they serving the young mothers who are wondering how they can even make it to bed time? There are lots of us who don't ( or didn't) have family close to help. Who is standing in the gap? Who is filling in for moms and grandmothers who can't be near to help their grown children?
Are you standing in the gap for someone? Are you a young mom serving your children and too tired to physically stand in the gap for someone else? Intercessory prayer may be the only thing you have to give right now. I get that... Is there a teen that has touched your heart? Are you standing in the gap for them, physically or emotionally? Is there someone from your church or community that needs a gap filler? Some of us can be that for them.
Please don't misunderstand this post. This is not to say you aren't standing in the gap for someone, but as a reminder to me... Some times I want to give up everything I'm doing and just have some ME time. But standing in the gap is so much more important .
Some of you have stood in the gap for me and I didn't even know.Some of you have stood in the gap for me as a mother figure. Some of you have stood in the gap for me thru all three hard pregnancies and deliveries. Some of you have stood in the gap for me thru some hard spots in our marriage. Some of the people who have stood in the gap for me have moved on and I never see them, yet they have left an impression on me. Those people are not forgotten and I'll always be thankful.
God has brought a lot of different people into my life to influence me. I hope it serves as a reminder of what Christ did for us. Standing in the gap, taking our sin on Himself, dying so that we can live.