“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” Exodus 15:26
You may go to the ER because you have a gaping, jagged cut from a rusty pipe. You’re in need of stitches, a tetanus shot, and an antibiotic.
But such visits do not dominate the Dallas area. Hospitals there, where emergency rooms are traditionally filled day and night, decided several years ago to find out why so many people regularly visit, costing tax payers millions of dollars a year. The researchers identified 80 patients, who collectively went to four Dallas-area emergency rooms 5,139 times during a 12-month period.
The No. 1 reason? Loneliness. These habitual ER users often lack relationships, connections, support structures – and a personal Savior.
What a cold and inhospitable place for them to go! Like emergency rooms, Sweet Monday will accept anyone, no questions asked. And the door is always open.
No – Sweet Monday cannot address fevers, cuts, or gall stones. But it CAN connect lonely, hurting women in a warm, inviting environment. And it provides contacts to help combat loneliness.
Most important, Sweet Monday opens the door for many hurting folks to meet someone that has not been a part of their lives: Jesus Christ. They can leave, not with doctor’s orders and prescriptions, but with a fullness. They leave filled with a sweet treat and the word of God.
Let us pray that as Sweet Monday spreads in Dallas and other cities, visits to the ER will diminish, friendships will increase, and love of the Lord will soar.