WRITE: Devotionals, Out of the Dust: True Compassion
Today, I’m continuing the series of devotionals taken from Out of the Dust: Story of an Unlikely Missionary (ANEKO Press, 2014), which will release November 1. Enjoy, and don’t forget to check out the links at the end. Keep watching for other Out of the Dust devotions all month. #2 True Compassion Scripture Reading: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Thought: When our desire to help flows from godly compassion, we will preserve others’ dignity while offering them assistance. Excerpt, Out of the Dust: When I was about nine years old, Mom and I were both hospitalized with hepatitis. Doctors feared I had permanent heart and liver damage, and the recovery took time. Right after the hospital released me, a television personality learned of our family’s plight. Dad hauled us up to the studio, certain we’d hit the big time. Not quite. The television people lined us up in birth order for an appeal: “If anyone has a job for this deserving veteran, call us at KLAC-13. We’ll put you in touch.” A huge car whisked us off after the interview to the mansion owned by one of the bigwig television producers. Realizing we were both the oddballs and the centerpiece of the evening, I didn’t like the situation one bit. “How old are you?” “Do you like living in a cabin?” “Since your mom is sick, do you handle the cooking?” The too-kind people in the too-fancy clothes spewed all these questions and more. Dad and the younger kids enjoyed the attention, but I recognized pity when I saw it. Mom’s right. It’s better to work hard than ask for handouts. But I’m not old enough to help. How can I make them understand? In despair, I crept down the carpeted hallway. Locking the bathroom door, I buried my head in the plush towel hanging from the rack. How can the world have so much and some people so little? By the time a kind lady found me, I was sitting on the floor, head in my hands. They don’t understand. We’re no different from rich kids. On the inside, we’re all the same. I hadn’t noticed, but I’d torn the towel rack right off the wall. (Chapter 3) Prayer: Holy Father, when we have the opportunity to help others, teach us to do it in a way that does not humiliate them. Use the hurts in our lives to give us hearts of compassion and kindness. Do you have a question,...
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