Grace and Mercy

Pastor Bill Bouknight tells the story of a prominent minister who was holding a weekend seminar at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. He kept noticing a man in the front row nodding off, and this aggravated him. He wondered why the man didn’t stay home if he couldn’t stay awake. 

During the lunch break, a woman approached the speaker and said, “Sir, let me apologize for my husband’s drowsiness. He is undergoing chemotherapy. The doctors have given him medication to control the side effects, but it makes him very sleepy. I tried to persuade him to stay home today, but he said, “I must go as long as I’m able. I never know when I will no longer be able to gather with God’s people.” In the blink of an eye, the speaker’s attitude toward the drowsy man was totally transformed.  

So often we don’t know what others are going through. To have empathy for someone is to try to see the world through their lens. It’s often very hard for us to do.

I don’t know about you, but there have definitely been moments in my life when I wished others knew what I was going through. In those moments, I try to remember God knows…. But I also hope for understanding and grace from those around me. 

When we know what it is like to need understanding and grace, it opens us up to the possibility of sharing these same gifts with others.

Let us pray: Loving God, help us not to be too quick to judge, but instead to seek understanding. Give us hearts of grace and mercy that we might be more like you. We pray in Jesus’ name.