“But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Psalm 86:15
As I pushed the grocery cart out of the store, I noticed the man; he was collecting money for physically challenged people. He himself was in a wheelchair.
Should I stop and talk to him, I wondered. It was Friday night and raining outside. I just wanted to go home to our warm house.
But then I remembered my brother Frank. The last years of his life were spent in a wheelchair because of being stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Near the end of his life all he could do was blink his eyes for “yes” or “no“. Without a wheelchair he would have been bedridden.
I stopped and talked to the man for a while and donated some money.
Experiencing the frustration of watching healthy people park in handicapped zones (I used to do it too), watching people avoiding meeting my brother’s eyes or not talking to him because they were intimidated changed me. The agonizing experience of watching my brother deteriorate has made me more compassionate.
Hardships do that for a person. We begin to take the time to stop and talk and laugh with hurting people. The tough times build character into our souls. The Lord uses the painful experiences to polish us so people can see Christ in us. Hardships can make us more like Jesus.
Someone once said,
“If you want to shine for Jesus, you have to be polished.“
Father, thank You for the hardships You lead us through. You use them to make us more compassionate, more loving and kind. More tender. Make us be more like Jesus. Amen.
by Katherine Kehler
used by permission
FURTHER READING
Sanding off the Rough Edges – by Gail Rodgers