An Important Lesson from the ER
I have a mother who’s a nurse and a sister who’s a physical therapist. In contrast, I’m the one who gets weak at the sight of blood. Despite my avoidance of all things medical, a recent visit to the Emergency Room actually left me grateful for the images the Lord etched in my mind.It was a Monday night and, as bad as I felt, I found myself in good company. No one in their right mind subjects themself to an ice-cold ER waiting room, full of horrific germs, without crossing a certain pain threshold. Chris and my mom waited patiently each time my name was called to get another piece of the puzzle.ID.Blood work.Insurance.Medical history.Up and down I would go, being escorted back to the same frigid room each time. And as much as I was ready to see a doctor, I think there was something else that I needed to see.I watched an elderly couple sit patiently. Then I grimaced as I observed a young couple attempting to hold their very unhappy toddler, confused by whatever contraption was intended to measure what was going on inside his little body. There wasn’t a toy or a show or a distraction that was going to help them comfort their little boy. Oh, I have been there.Then a mom rolled a wheelchair in with her teenager daughter. If I had to guess, the markings all over her body told a story of pain and rebellion. I imagine the physical pain that brought me to the ER was nothing compared with the journey this mother and daughter had been on in recent years. Before my name would be called for the last time, an ambulance rolled in an older woman in obvious pain who would sit by herself… for what seemed like hours. While I continued to tell my husband and mom they could avoid the frigid treatment and go, I took for granted that my soul didn’t have to wrestle with feeling completely alone.I had never crossed paths with any of these people and yet what I was reminded of that night was that we are all the same. Hair color, age, economics, tattoos, politics, race, or education really don’t matter. Our culture likes to divide us and label us… but the truth is that we all belong to one group: the children of God. He created each of us and loves each of us.[bctt tweet="Our culture likes to label us... but the truth is, we all belong to one group: the children of God."]As believers, we’re called to prove love works. As 1 John 4:11-12 reminds us…
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
May we never limit that to loving people who are just like us… unless we have come to the sweet realization that every person we encounter is just like us… in need of a Savior and the love of the family of God.