By Jennifer Davis Rash
The Alabama Baptist
It’s been four years since I wrote this particular Rashional Thoughts. I wanted to share it again because of the number of people I’ve encountered lately who are carrying loads and loads of pain.
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The man carried himself with confidence and purpose. He walked into the church and up to the welcome desk without hesitation.
“I’d like to go to your singles Sunday School class,” he said.
“No problem,” one gentleman said and pointed the man my way. “She will help you find your class.”
As I moved toward the gentleman, I noticed several people walk by and greet him, speak to him, pat him on the back, etc. Our church is a friendly church and the members are good about welcoming guests, but in this particular case no one spent more than a few seconds with the man before moving on.
When he turned to look at me, all I could see was pain in his eyes. He said all the right words and knew what to do in a church setting but something wasn’t right. I purposefully didn’t take him to a class right away. I spent some time trying get to know more about him.
Within a few minutes he was sharing his real story with me and he definitely needed to talk. He also needed a different class than the one he came in requesting.
Being intentional
The more I heard his story, the more I could narrow down which class would be best for him. I also knew exactly which leader would connect with him and personally located the class leader so that I could introduce them immediately.
The experience that Sunday shook me a bit. What if I had not slowed down long enough to really look into the man’s eyes? What if I had not noticed the pain? What if I had not shown compassion and truly cared about him as a person?
Of course the next person may have done all the right things and taken even better care of the situation, but it reminded me that we shouldn’t leave these opportunities for the next person.
What if the next person isn’t paying attention?
Not always convenient
God gave me the opportunity to encourage a fellow believer who was in a world of hurt that day. It meant I had to rearrange my schedule. It meant I didn’t finish a project for one of the ministers when I said I would. It meant I missed catching up with many of my friends. But it also meant receiving a tremendous blessing.
As I drove home from church, I thanked God for allowing me to participate in the experience.
I also wondered how many other hurting people had walked up to the welcome desk and received a friendly greeting but nothing deeper. How many others had I not noticed?
What about in everyday life outside of church? How many people do we see every day and never slow down long enough to read their eyes, observe their body language or notice their words?
And if we are honest, how many times do we sense someone needs to talk or needs a friend, but we don’t want to invest the time, change our schedule or deal with it in general?
How many times have we been so focused on talking and sharing everything on our mind that we missed noticing the sadness in the eyes of the person listening to us?
As Christians and church families, what difference could we make if we all slowed down and served others through the gifts of awareness, listening and encouragement?
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Rashional Extras – Beyond the Veil
Beyond what was hidden underneath and unseen, beyond obscure visions my heart reflecting images outwardly reaching for faith.
Eyes of hope revealed from light blue tattered and torn cloth that hanged over my eyes.
My hands slowly removing shiny sleek red satin to open my eyes to love with an open heart that blossoms with care.
Removing the dark draped cloak that hanged with fear that weighed me down where doubts and despair dove deep within my skin that weeps for the light of heaven.
Light removed the veils with a courageous heart seeing the unseen truth and beauty within.
A reflection of hope, love, honor and truth when you see within and beyond the obvious toward the glorious unseen when your focus becomes the light.
Mysti Milwee
Editor’s Note — Mysti S. Milwee is an award-winning and published artist and poet. Her latest poetry was published in The Alabama Baptist and The Mountain Press, and her art was published in the Birmingham Arts Journal.
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“Our prodigal’s path isn’t about us. It never was. It’s about them and their relationship with God, and their journey is a painful one. It isn’t easy to look beyond our own pain and see the pain of our prodigals, is it? However, if we could imagine, if only for a moment, how it must hurt to be estranged from everyone they love, our hearts would be broken for our prodigals. If we could really see their pain, we would have no problem feeling compassion.”
Rita Aiken Moritz
Author, “So You Love a Prodigal”
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“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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@desiringGod
Pastors, get on your face before the living God over His Word on behalf of your own people and their own needs.
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Far too often, we think, “If I just work harder, I’ll be successful.” But the hustle economy is bankrupt. In a fast-paced working environment, we suffer from a lack of clarity about what’s important to us — not to mention permission to pursue those priorities on our own terms.
Author and productivity coach Michael Hyatt
www.michaelhyatt.com
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Follow me on Twitter @RashionalThts or email me at jrash@thealabamabaptist.org.
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