Scripture
Quote
Emotional pain is less dramatic than physical pain but it is more common and harder to bear.
~C.S. Lewis
A part of the pastoral call is to share the pain and suffering of others. This has been one of those weeks where I keep bumping into hurting people. The pain, the grief and the sorrow I have seen this week is all of an emotional nature. It is much easier to deal with a tooth ache than a heart ache. An upset stomach will go away but grief lingers. So much of our grief comes from disappointment and of course, somewhere, perhaps in the distant past, there is sin. Adam and Eve’s rebellion not only affected them, it affected and infected all their descendants.
What is our response to hurting people? Do we ignore them or perhaps try to avoid them? Are we to be hard and harsh or kind and compassionate? The LORD’s response to us is compassion and unconditional love. We must not forget that Jesus wept. His tears were real because His love is real. He has the ability to empathize, to feel our pain. We may grieve but we are never alone in our sorrow. What a friend we have in Jesus!
- I’m looking forward to hearing Junior Hill Sunday. Junior is one of my favorite preachers. I love to hear Junior preach. He will be with us Sunday morning at 10:15.
- AWANA Swim party Saturday night from 8:00-10:00 at Hartselle City Pool. Halsey hamburgers for our refreshment. It is hard to believe that school has started, we have a football game tomorrow night and AWANA is kicking off in three weeks.
- My family will be in Athens both this evening and tomorrow evening. The visitation for my brother’s family is this evening at Sardis Springs. I think it is from 3:00-8:00. Kaley’s COLS is Friday evening at Ardmore High School. It is still so hard to believe this tragedy happened.
- God seldom works as I expect. He is working but not by my design. Yahweh is so full of surprises. He answers prayers that I don’t have enough sense to articulate. I write the blog with myself or someone in mind and the person I have in mind doesn’t read the blog. What I intend or design to help a particular individual never happens but invariably someone that I don’t even know or at least am unaware of reads the blog and is helped. It is definitely a God thing!
