OUCH! When Another Member of the Body Is Hurting!

This past Saturday evening I was involved in a collision. No, it did not involve my vehicle and it did not occur on some suburban street. Rather it all happened in a split second right in my own living room. My little toe on my right foot, moving at a high rate of speed, encountered an immovable object. And my toe lost! Writhing in pain, I collapsed on our sofa. When I finally opened my eyes and took a look at my toe, I noted that it was sticking outward from the rest of my foot (and usually it hugs closely my fourth toe) at about a 45 degree angle. At that point I knew it was broken. My first thought was, "Why did this happen the evening before Easter Sunday??!!" I spent the rest of the evening with an ice pack on my toe and keeping it elevated. And the next morning, in spite of my best efforts, I was unable to wear a shoe on my right foot. So I wore a slipper instead. One person who saw me in the hallway at church asked me if I was wearing the slipper as part of a sermon illustration I was planning!

Today, five days after my injury, the toe is still hurting - especially when I wear a shoe (so right now as I am sitting in my office, I am wearing a slipper on that foot). And when I walk ... I do so with a limp. This has caused me to experience some pain in other parts of my right leg and knee (my doctor warned me about this). Yea! All this due to a small broken bone (one of the smallest in the body) - and that little broken bone lets me know all day long that it is hurting!

The Body of Christ should be like this. When one member hurts - all of us should feel the pain. However, all too often, we don't. Why is this? I think at times we can become very self-focused. We have our own problem ... issues ... and pain to deal with. And so we grow indifferent to the needs and pain of others. There are other times that we are just plain too busy. As a result, we get so tied up in doing whatever, that we have no time to really feel the pain of others. But whatever the reason, this ought not to be! If you are a member of the Body of Christ, then you are called upon by God to minister to those who are hurting. The Apostle Paul makes this clear when he writes, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). In referring to burdens, he is not talking about those things that God expects us to carry (for he says in Galatians 6:5, "for each one should carry his own load.") Rather he is talking about those very difficult things that bring us pain that are just too big for us to carry on our own.

Sooooooo --- stop and take a look around you. Is there a brother or sister in Christ who is hurting and could use some relief? Reach out. Help shoulder their burden. In doing so, you will be fulling the law of Christ (which is to love one another even as HE has loved us!).

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj