WEEP WITH THOSE WHO WEEP

Where do you find yourself along life's journey?

Are you in a valley where darkness surrounds you on all sides? Are you on the mountain top where joy abounds? Are you where the majority of our time seems to pass in the daily grind of life?

Wherever you find yourself I pray the Holy Spirit will use this post to shine a ray of light upon your path.

The majority of my life I remained indifferent to the plight of others. I was saddened by the hurt of others yes, but rarely moved to action by it. In many ways I was completely oblivious to the level of pain and suffering that even existed until I went through it to some degree myself.

When my son was sick I spent countless hours sitting in the cafeteria at the children's hospital. Hurting people were all around me but I didn't notice them. I suppose my own pain blocked my view of theirs. Now as I revisit the same cafeteria when I take Isaiah for his follow-up appointments, I notice the pain in their eyes without a word being exchanged. Bracelets hang from their arms announcing they are a parent or caregiver of a child who is somewhere in the building.

Hurting people are all around us and perhaps that is you. Romans 12:15 instructs, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

So often I don't even notice those around me let alone take a moment to rejoice or weep with them. I think of the good Samaritan who encountered a man who had been robbed, wounded, and left for dead on his way to Jericho. Luke 10:33,34 says, "but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed came where he (the hurt man) was and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him..."

These verses lay out three separate things that took place.

First, the good Samaritan had to see the wounded man. I wondered if this had occurred today would the good Samaritan even notice him or would he be to busy taking on his cellphone to look up.

Second, he had compassion on him. He was moved by this man's pain.

Thirdly, the good Samaritan acted upon what he saw. He went to him. He cared for him.

I encounter people like this regularly. Do I see them? Do I have compassion on them? Does that compassion move me to act? Action may come in the form of a hug, a kind word, or a helping hand. Other times the cost may be higher. For the good Samaritan the cost was high to care for this stranger. It cost him precious time and money he probably didn't have to spare. Time and money are two areas I struggle to give as freely as this Samaritan did.

Another interesting thing I notice when I read this story is that it doesn't appear the good Samaritan judged this man. Perhaps he had deserved what happened to him, perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he owed a debt and the thieves had come to collect. The Bible doesn't give those specifics but to the good Samaritan it didn't seem to be important. Could it be that the good Samaritan had been in the very situation as this man once. Is that why he saw his pain?

As we encounter those who've been wounded in ways you and I may never know, may we learn from the good Samaritan. May we weep with those all around us that are weeping.

From the heart, Callie