I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
….He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
….no shadow of shame will darken their faces. Psalm 34:4-5 NLT
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Shortly after I had acquired my driver’s license, oh so many years ago, I had a very tragic experience. I hit a rabbit… Many wouldn’t have given it a second thought, even if they had realized they had done it. But I did. I didn’t pull over and fall apart or anything like that, but it definitely gave me a jolt. I don’t think I had ever killed anything up to that point in my life.
Just this past week, as I drove my route, I saw the remains of a rabbit just off the right side of the road. It had been hit by a passing vehicle and had not survived the encounter. Did the assailant realize their act? Did it sadden their heart? Was it done maliciously? Did they do all that was within their power to bring that life to an end? Only God knows.
How many people do we go past throughout our day have been struck and injured and left to die or survive…maybe? The assailant(s) not caring and possibly even relishing in the fact that they contributed to the victim’s downfall.
Unlike the poor rabbit by the roadside – which was obviously dead – how many of us are the walking dead…and I’m not a believer in zombies. Life has beat upon them so severely that in so many ways, they no longer live. They are just empty shells, going through the motions…day in day out.
Their assailants may have assaulted them physically, sexually, or one of the hardest to recognize from afar…verbally and emotionally. They go through the motions of “living” if you can call it that, but for all intents and purposes, they are dead. And worse yet, many feel that they have absolutely nothing worth living for.
Yes, we go through life and rarely see them. Part of the problem is that we never get close enough to see them….and I’m not talking about being close in proximity physically. Many times, the only way to “see” what’s going on, is to take time to interact and get intimately close to people. Now I’m not talking anything so crass as to imply sexual intimacy! But we (hopefully) have all had a least a couple of people with whom we were close in our lives. We knew the comings and goings of each other, and any secrets shared we knew would be kept with the utmost of discretion.
We, as followers of Christ, are to be like Him. We are to love…unconditionally. It may even involve loving until it hurts – Jesus did. Hear the words of the Apostle John from his first epistle.
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. We love, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:18-19 AMP
Lord Jesus, may we see those by the wayside. Those hurt and dying souls that everyone else zooms by in the hustle and bustle of life, may we not be ones who pass by. Help us to love as You loved – and still love today. Amen.
Jan 31st, 2021, Sun, 6:36 pm
