Three Letter Word

This weekend the little man had an allergic reaction to some eye drops. The drops were supposed to clear up his "pink eye". Unfortunately, he ended up with a "flaming red eye" that looked horrible. He assured us constantly that it didn't hurt, but those of us around him just knew that it did. Did I mention it looked awful? Painful?

We took him to the pediatrician who sent us straight to the local children's hospital. The concern was that his eye may be damaged. Thankfully his eye is fine and that was a great relief. However, the Saturday morning mad dash to the ER with the little man was a bit unnerving. Immediately I was able to text a few close friends and ask them to pray for the Mister. There is nothing like knowing you have "peeps" who will pray for you and with you. I am incredibly blessed and we are thankful, as a family, that we have such friends.

I had to ask myself, though, am I that kind of friend? You know the kind that will stop immediately and pray when asked to or the kind that has compassion for another's struggles. The honest answer for me is sometimes or it depends. Too often there's an excuse involved. It's not pretty, but it is the truth.

"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 have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3 ,4

Recently I studied this verse and I realized that I had been copping out on encouraging and comforting others. It was so easy to say I can't relate, because I've not walked in their shoes. Or I've never had that situation, so I don't know what to do. A closer look at the verses above would tell me otherwise. First, God is the God of all comfort, not me. (Duh? I know.) Secondly, God comforts us in all our troubles. This one I sort of got. I typically don't have a problem believing that God will comfort you or me. It's the last part I hadn't fully grasped. It says, "…so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." That three letter word, a.n.y., covers e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. God doesn't allow me or you an "out" because we don't get it. He comforts us as we need it and that same comfort can be used for others, in any situation. So when the opportunity arises again, no more excuses.