Thursday, December 20, 2007 - The Gift of Mercy
This past week Erin had some minor surgery done on her nose, adenoids and deviated septum. She’s fine now though she looks like she went a few rounds with Jack Dempsey (I was going to say Mike Tyson but her ears were unaffected).
Patty went to the hospital to spend the day with Erin and take care of her post-op. The doctor arrived late, the surgery took longer than expected, and Erin slept a long time in the recovery room. It worked out that Patty spent the greater part of the day just hanging out at Saint Ivo Hospital with nothing but time on her hands.
She wandered around a bit and passed an elderly woman sitting alone in her room. In her wanderings she passed the same woman sitting alone several times. Here’s where it gets interesting. Patty doesn’t like to talk to strangers, Jesus apparently does.
For some reason that God created before the foundation of the world, Patty stopped in to see how she was doing. The woman, Solange, was paralyzed from the waist down and recovering from her 13th surgery to correct her problem. Patty had nothing else to do so she stayed and had a long visit. Towards the end of their conversation Solange asked if she could ask Patty a personal question. She prefaced it by saying that Patty didn’t have to answer if it made her uncomfortable.
“Are you an Evangelical Christian?”
She went on to say that she had been there for an entire week and that many people stop by and look in but the only people that had entered her room or spoken to her were the doctors and nurses and that they were all business. She had been there for a week as a medical case but nobody had paid any attention to her as a person. She said that she has noticed something different about some Evangelicals over the years and that she recognized it in Patty as well. Solange didn’t personally know Christ as her Savior but she recognized Him in Patty right away.
As I say in the introduction to the blog, “There is no human pain that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will not fix. That is the essence of who Jesus is and that is what He offers to bring into your life.” I don’t know why it surprises us to see Him in action, after all, He indwells the believer.
The gift of mercy is a subtle gift, not one that will grab the limelight or ever be handed a microphone. The untapped potential to turn the world upside down dwells within each of us who have come to peace with Him. The living expression of that is a beautiful thing. I don’t think I am far from the mark to say that the exercise of the gift of mercy stems from a personal brokenness and heartfelt need of it in our own lives. It is the essence of miracle that flows out through those cracks.
Please remember to pray for Solange, Patty has her e-mail address and will remain in contact with her.
Mac
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