Turn Aside To See

“Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.” (La 2:11 AV)

What Jeremiah saw in the aftermath of the Babylonian invasion disturbed him greatly.  It affected him physically.  It made him sick to see the result of chastisement from the LORD.  Surely, we would think that placed in the same set of circumstances, we would react the same way.  Yet, it might not be the case.  Let me explain.

We are inundated with news of tragedy.  No matter how large or how small, the news attempts to tug at our heart strings over misfortune.  We feed off it.  We want to feel what others are feeling.  The problem with a constant exposer to tragedy is we become a little calloused towards it.  We see images of war from fields afar with all the blood and gore allowed by the FCC.  We learn of a terrorist taking advantage of a situation where others are hurt or a mass shooting in a state halfway around the nation.  We read of impaired drivers losing control of their vehicles only to take another’s life.  There are police reports which appear weekly telling us of substance abuse, theft, and worse of all, child neglect or abuse.  There is tragedy upon tragedy.  It is the new norm.  So, when we see our own saints go down with life altering choices, how stirred are we at their situation?  Yes, there is little we can do if they do not want our help.  But there is prayer!  There is a kind word or a text that might encourage.  There is a simple touch that lets them know they are not forgotten and they are loved.

Our tear ducts have dried up.  We can hold our meal down.  We are more interested in the score of our favorite sports team then we are the unfortunate situation of our fellow believer who has fallen off the grid.  We are so preoccupied with our own family we forget the situation of another’s all it takes is what the good Samaritan did.  He turned aside to see!  He stopped and looked!  He allowed it to bother him!