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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 (NIV)
Jesus tells the story of a man who was beaten and robbed by a bunch of thugs. Severely injured and left on the road to die, he was without hope. Soon two men came upon his beaten, bruised and battered body. Each of them took stock of the situation and decided it was best if they moved on. The third man, a hated Samaritan came along and saw the man laying there in a pool of blood. Realizing there was no time to waste, he bandaged the man’s wounds and brought him to safety. He had compassion on him.
Compassion. The dictionary defines it as a consciousness of someone else’s distress with an urgent desire to alleviate it. Sympathy is understanding and perhaps even sharing the emotions of another person in distress, but compassion takes that a step farther by seeking ways in which to alleviate the pain.
James tells us, what good is it, when you see someone in need to say “I’ll pray for you, I feel bad about your plight.” (My paraphrase from James 2) Referring back to our example of the story Jesus told. Let’s give the first two men that came upon the victim some credit. Let’s say, for the sake of argument that they stopped, looked and even prayed over the man who was beaten to a bloody pulp. Of what benefit were there prayers.
It’s interesting that Jesus chose the characters he did. The two that passed by were ‘the religious elite’ of the day. The type of people any pastor would love to have on their board or staff. The one that stopped to give compassion would be looked down upon in most churches.
Perhaps you are the one wounded on the side of the road. You’ve had a history of abuse and abandonment. Your wounds aren’t readily visible to those around you, but the pain is unbearable. Perhaps those bruises were given to you in the name of the church, or for your own good.
Paul writes to the church in Corinth to remind them that we are to be examples of God. God is the one that not only stops to look at your pain, He’s the one that stoops to our level, bandages your wounds, and comforts you in your pain. You may think you have fallen too far. You may think your wounds too deep. You may say you have nothing to offer.
That’s the beauty of our God. None of us have anything of any value to offer him for his kindness. None of us have the resources to purchase his forgiveness. We are comforted only because of his grace.
PRAYER: Father God. I praise you for the assurance we have that you will bandage our wounds and show us your compassion. We are a needy people. We are a wounded people. Thank you for the comfort you offer us through Jesus Christ. Amen.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13
God never intended for us to do the journey of life on our own. From the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, He looked upon man, His most prized possession, and said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.”
In a sense, God was saying, man needs relationship to get through life. Even though Adam was in relationship with God on a face to face basis, he needed someone like himself who could walk with him and see things the way he did, through human eyes.
God has always been in the business of relationship. Relationship is crucial for our physical, emotional and spiritual well being. There are times in each of our lives when we may think being a hermit would be a great idea. No people to bother us, no politics to endure and no pain from broken relationships. But hermits don’t make a difference in their world. Hermits don’t acknowledge or use the gifts God has given them.
The writer to the Hebrews was talking relationship in Hebrews 3:13. What he is really saying to us in this verse is that each of us needs to have at least one person in our lives that we can go to with our deepest darkest secrets. Someone who won’t judge us; will listen to us when we need to vent; encourage us when we feel weak; cry with us when we need to cry and celebrate when things are going right.
It’s no secret why groups dealing with addictions encourage their participants to have a ‘friend’ that they can call on when the temptation to indulge in the addiction is too great. When we are fighting addictions we need to have someone who will stand by us and not lecture or judge us.
Ever noticed really good cheerleaders at an athletic contest? They seem completely unaware of the score on the scoreboard. Their job isn’t to analyze the team’s ability. Their job is to cheer on the people on the field. Everyone needs a cheerleader in their lives. Someone who stands by us when we are losing the battle and celebrates when we win.
Don’t buy into the enemies lie: “I don’t need anyone. All I need is God”. We need each other. We need to have intimate spiritual relationships with one or two people that we know we can share our deepest darkest secrets with; who we can express our pain to and we can trust to stand by us, even when they don’t agree with our situation.
If you are struggling today with an addiction, a relational issue, a financial issue or any of the other obstacles in this journey called life, my prayer for you is that you will find one or two close friends who are Christ-followers and will love you as Jesus does, unconditionally.
If you are a Christ-follower, my prayer for you is that you seek out those who are limping along on the journey. Like the story of the Good Samaritan, it’s easy to be too busy or too appalled by the victims we see laying along the road, bruised and battered by life. It’s time to stop and do what we can to dress the wounds of those in need of the healing only Jesus can give.
Every day, the enemy watches us get out of bed and plans what obstacles to throw in our way. Every day we need a cheerleader. Someone who will encourage us to press on regardless of the score on the scoreboard.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, you know the struggle I’m in right now. You knew from the beginning of time how important it is that I be in an intimate spiritual relationship with someone. I pray that you will help me find the comfort and encouragement of relationship the way you meant it to be. Help me to reach out to those in need as I walk this road called life. In your name I pray, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 